Intertwined
by Iceclaw14
Summary: My version of the Kranna story. "Why can't you tell me the truth?" "Because if I did, I'm positve you'll regret it." Anna was saved by Kratos, but he put her in danger to begin with. But why does Kratos feel like this to her? Summary in profile
1. Prologue

Iceclaw14: Hey! Wow, I can't believe I'm here. I told myself I would never write the Kranna story because... well because it's just a really hard thing to write. But here I am, I know they're some people that must agree with me, right? It is such a fun thing to read about, isn't it? We know nothing about Anna, except that she was from Luin, taken to the Asgard Human Ranch, the specimen of the Angelus Project, ran off with Kratos for at least three years, was the mother of Lloyd and was finally killed by Kratos when Lloyd was three and Kvar removed her crestless exsphere. That's it. She could have been thirteen for all we know! I hope my interpretations of these vital moments in Tales of Symphonia history are realistic and believable. Remember: keep an open mind. Disclaimer: I do not own... bla bla bla you guys already know it all.

Kratos Aurion walked through the lifeless halls of Welgia. He entered a large circular room with an inactivated portal in the center. An angel with black wings was positioned in front of a large contraption that would activate the portal. Like everything else in this wicked place, he spoke lifelessly, "Lord Yggdrasil will see you now," Kratos nodded in return, and the angel turned to his machine, pushed several buttons and activated the portal. Kratos stepped on the glowing crest, and disappeared.

He found himself in a large hallway. Angels hovered around going from portal to portal, but none even stole a glance at the Seraphim, not like he looked at them. He made his way through several depressing hallways, rooms, and portals before he found himself directly in front of the door to Mithos's chambers. He was only a foot from the door when a blue-haired half-elf blocked him from entering the room.

"Kratos," the half-elf said. "Why are you doing this?"

The hybrid was relatively short, with a black cape draped around his shoulders. No weapon was at his side or in his hand, but instead a huge sword-like weapon was connected to a compartment on his back, shadowed by his robe. A deep frown was scorched into his face, and his blue eyes were piercing pools of anger.

"Because unlike you I don't want to rebel against Mithos for no reason what so ever," he responded dryly.

The half-elf, whose name was Yuan, shook his head, his gaze still connected with Kratos's. "Kratos there _is _a reason for joining my revolution group, the Renegades. Do you know why Mithos has summoned you?" He didn't even wait for Kratos to respond, and burst into the rest of the conversation furiously. "He wants someone to lead a raid on a town to find another subject for some for some murderous experiment, an innocent human being. Do you know what happened to the previous subject? He died."

"Some sacrifices are necessary; in order for one thing to survive another must not live through it."

Yuan stepped out of the way of the door. "I hope you will have enough sense and back out as I did."

"I hope you have enough sense to end this rebellion group you are forming, Yuan." Kratos responded as he swung open the door and made his way through, the ancient doors slamming behind him.

The entire room was covered in exquisite patterns, carvings of dragons, angels, the Giant Kharlan Tree, the 'goddess' Martel, and Mithos the Hero. Huge pillars rose to the ceiling, but it seemed as though the room could hold itself up, after all; it had been here for over four thousand years and only some parts were chipped off and replaced by floating rocks and the calamity of space. At the end of a room there was a slightly risen platform and atop it was a golden chair with jewels all colors of the rainbow embedded into it, and on that chair sat Mithos.

Mithos the Hero was wearing his traditional white jump-suit with golden trimming. His strikingly blonde hair flew over his green-blue eyes as he stepped forward to greet Kratos.

Kratos kneeled onto the ground and bowed his head. "Lord Yggdrasil."

Mithos laughed, and it echoed through the halls creepily. He stepped forward to Kratos and placed his hand on Kratos's shoulder, who looked up at him.

"Kratos, Kratos," he sighed, shaking his head. "You have no reason to bow, or call me Lord Yggdrasil. We are both one of the four Seraphim of Cruxis, you will call me Mithos." He pulled the purple clad man up to face him. "Now, let's get down to business, Lord Aurion."

Kratos nodded, simply ignoring the joke. "Why did you call me here?"

"I need you to do me the simplest favor," he said diving into his request, which Kratos was positive that it going to be much more than 'simplest.' "I am trying to conduct an experiment with Kvar, one of the five Grand Cardinals and leader of both the Asgard Human Ranch and this project, and he has recently informed me that the previous experiment has passed."

"How did he die?" Kratos asked blandly.

Mithos sighed. "Age; and he has to have certain biological properties. I hardly understand it either." He replied. "Now, just recently, Kvar has collected all of the data he needs to discover the necessities of the experiment. Though, sadly, none of the people at any of the ranches match, some are very close, but all are too old and weak."

"So you want me to search through all of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla to find someone who matches your data?"

Mithos cackled lightly. "No that would take years, even for you. Instead those at other ranches through the declining world have kept records of their 'employees,' and my spies positioned at the towns have also contributed to this. They did all the work." He snapped his fingers, and an angel entered the room, carrying a huge book. It hovered over to Mithos and handed it to him before scurrying out of the door. Mithos opened the book midway through, licked his fingers and started flipping through pages until he found the one he was looking for, and then he showed the page to Kratos. They were profiles of two people taken to a ranch about one hundred years ago. It had everything about them from their weight and height to their marriages and children.

"These," Mithos began. "Are two people who were captured by a ranch.

They also later escaped together. They hardly had any of the necessities. But, they were married and had one child." He flipped the page to another profile.

"Their son was also captured. Luckily, he met his wife at the ranch. She escaped, but he was killed during the attempt. But she had his child, who had even more of the necessary vitals to the experiment. That adds on to our luck."

"I don't understand," Kratos said. "Why are you showing me this? What does this have to do with anything if they are dead or old or don't have the right necessities?"

"I thought you would be able to point it out, especially after the amount keeps getting higher and higher."

"So eventually throughout the generations they had a child with the perfect amount of everything," Kratos realized aloud.

Mithos nodded. "Precisely, a daughter, to be exact; a cute little thing, my sources say. She is living in a small little house with her parents in Luin. You and a group of two-hundred soldiers will go in and get her." Suddenly, his voice hardened. "Anyone who stands in your way will die."

"What is her name?"

"Anna Irving."

_Anna Irving._

Anna giggled as Rebecca splashed water in her face. They were playing in the fountain at the center of Luin. Anna splashed her back, and Rebecca fell on her butt in the water.

"Play nice," Luciretta said from her bench. She was in her early twenties and was dressed nicely in a white, satin dress with dark purple thread weaving and out in patterns of flowers and vines. She had spiky, dark red hair that extended to the small of her back. Her vivid green eyes were accented perfectly by her thin triangular glasses. Not only was she beautiful, but she was the most trusted person in all of Sylvarant. But if you crossed her she would chew you up and spit you back out.

"I want to get my full pay for baby-sitting you little imps, and I won't get it unless I return you in one piece."

A woman approached Lucrietta; Rebecca stumbled out of the fountain and hugged the woman around the waist. The woman picked her up and placed her on her hip, she handed Lucrietta a fair amount of gald before walking off, the little girl bouncing on her.

Anna clambered out of the fountain and teetered over to Lucrietta. She picked her up easily and her on her lap. "Lucri, why did Rebecca go?" She asked; her brown eyes huge.

"Her parents are taking her to Asgard for the rest of the week," she responded. "Don't worry; she'll be back before you know it."

"Lucri, what do you think about the elf?"

Only a month ago, a group of men found an elf lying on the road a mile west of Luin, unconscious. They brought him back to the village and cared for him until he was ready to speak. They had questioned him on why they found him in such a state; He said he had came from a place called Heimdall, and had never heard of Luin. He said he was swimming when he came to an island; he got up onto the island to rest when suddenly the ground underneath him fell apart and he woke up here. Some people in Luin wanted to kill him, but others didn't. Instead he was put into house arrest in a little abandoned shed close to the entrance of town. He was brought three meals a day by Lucrietta. And after she would fill her duty she was always giddy and light-footed.

Lucrietta's cheeks turned red. "Don't call him the elf, he has a name, it's Tafete. And what do you mean by, 'what about do I think about him?' He is stubborn, but sweet when you get to know him."

A wide grin opened up on the little girl's face. "Lucri loves Tafete! Youlove him!" Lucrietta turned tomato-red and she placed her hand over Anna's mouth.

"Anna," she whispered softly, but with an edge to her voice. "Anna please you can't be doing this. You don't know how people feel about half-elves. I don't want all of Sylvarant to get thoughts in their head."

She removed her hand from Anna's mouth, who gasped. "Are you going to have a baby?"

"No!" Lucrietta said loudly. "I'm not pregnant, it's just that people wouldn't like seeing humans and elves together. So this has to be our little secret, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Good girl," she said. She pressed three gald into the palm of Anna's hand. "Go down to the inn and buy yourself some candy, but don't let your parents see you and come straight back afterwards, alright?"

Anna nodded quickly, and hopped off Lucrietta's lap. She bounded over the bridge and pushed open the door to the inn. Her mother was seated at a table with a gray-haired man. Her mother's shoulder length brown hair shone in the light. Fortuitously, her mother had her back to the door and Anna swiftly glided over to the counter, bought some candy, and scurried out of the door.

She dropped her candy when she looked outside.

Lord Aurion," A Desian soldier said, he kneeled on the ground, "permission to speak, sir?"

"Granted," Kratos responded.

The soldier rose off the ground. "Sir, several soldiers have spotted a man and a woman traveling with a little girl. Less than a mile outside of Luin, heading in the direction of Asgard; they are in a hurry."

Kratos nodded, he extended his wings. The soldier gasped, he obviously had never seen wings on humans before. "I'll go see, continue to Luin." The half-elf nodded dumbly, and then ran off. Kratos pushed off the ground and flapped his wings.

He rose one-hundred feet in the air; he examined the ground, searching for this traveling family. There they were three moving dots in the direction of Asgard. He focused on them, using his amazing vision. A man armored with a bow and arrow (but he obviously wasn't very skilled with it), a woman, and a little girl.

He gracefully flew until he was within spell casting distance. Kratos focused his mana and murmured a few words, and then he cast Wind Blade on the man. He was lifted into the air and the wind cut his clothing and skin as he screamed. His two other companions turned to face him as the wind blew off and he fell to the ground. They ran to him as Kratos cast Indignation, the two others got small shocks, while the man slumped to the ground.

Lifelessly, his jaw unclosed.

Kratos landed in the forest around his remaining targets and drew his wings back. He moved with amazing agility towards them, winding through the trees. When he reached them, the woman and girl were by the man's body, shaking it, praying that he would wake up. Useless, when they're gone, they're gone, no use dwelling on it. He raced over towards them, lifted the woman from the ground, covered her mouth with his hand and positioned the point of his sword at her temple, before she could make a single sound.

The little girl rose soon enough. She wiped her eyes with her small knuckles, drying away the tears. She looked at the woman, then turned to Kratos and began staring at him pathetically.

"Don't do anything, or else she will die."

"Mommy!" she screamed.

Kratos drove his sword through the woman's head. Blood gushed out, spraying Kratos; he could feel the drops of her blood fling onto his face. Her body slid off the sword, it had gone straight through her head, and a trail of blood ran down his sword, the tip of the blade dripping.

The child was awe-struck. Her eyes were wide as tears streamed down from them. He stepped close to her and positioned his sword at her neck. One swing was all it would take.

"What is your name?" He asked.

The child mumbled softly. "Mommy...Daddy...An...Luc..."

He was losing his patience. "What is your name?" He bellowed.

"Re...Re..Rebecca."

Kratos swung his sword.

Outside of the inn, buildings were ablaze. Desian soldiers chased down the people of Luin and their bodies added to the numerous ones on the ground. Anna wanted to scream, but she remembered what her father told her.

_If the Desians ever invade, you are to go to whoever is in charge of you for the moment. Whether it be me, your mother, Lucrietta, or Hilda; both of you must march back into the house and go into the basement. Remain calm, and don't scream or run, or they might notice you. You are not to come out no matter what. Don't take anything down with you that you don't need, we have food and blankets down there to last us several days. Don't every come out and don't ever be alone._

She had to get to Lucrietta and run to her house. She bolted through the crowd of terrified people. Buildings fell to the ground and screams of horror and pain filled the air. She ran faster and just as she leaped over the bridge, it was blown into smithereens by a soldier's spell.

Several Desian soldiers were perched by the fountain. This area was emptier, only some soldiers were there, and there were even fewer people from Luin. Anna hid behind a tree, her heart pounding. Her eyes skimmed the area, looking for where Lucrietta might be. She could hear the soldiers talking, and she couldn't help but eavesdrop.

"He said kill only those who rebel," the first soldier said. "Either everyone is rebelling or no one is following orders."

"Why do we even have to have an attack?" The second soldier questioned. "We're just looking for a little girl. Why couldn't he just sneak in her house at night and grab her?"

Another soldier ran up to them. "We have located the house!" The two other soldiers nodded, then they followed him, other soldiers followed too, and the whole entire area was empty, except for Anna. She jumped out from behind the tree and raced to the fountain.

Lucrietta wasn't on the bench waiting for her. She began to panic, had the Desians taken her away? Footsteps sounded from behind her; she turned around to find Lucrietta running towards her, glasses askew.

"Anna!" She gasped. She extended her hand. It was bleeding, a huge cut extended from her palm to just below her pointer finger. Anna grabbed the hand; "I'm so glad you're alright!" The two raced towards Anna's house.

Anna gritted her teeth as Lucrietta's blood oozed between her fingers. "What happened?" She managed to gasp. "Why are you hurt?"

"Well," Lucrietta began. "Shortly after you left, Desians came and they started attacking people and burning down buildings. I thought you would have met up with your parents, and I was going to go to your house and wait for you to come when I thought of Tafete. He was locked up in that shed, handcuffed to the wall!" Her voice rose, but she calmed down. "I had to help him, so I went back to the shed and it was on fire. I unlocked the door and freed him, then some wood fell down and scratched me, it got in really deep, I think I'll have it forever."

"Where is he?"

Lucrietta swung her other arm in front of her. And there was Tefete, holding tightly onto her hand. He was obviously an elf, his pointed ears sticking out of his hair and a reef of never-wilting flowers and leaves around his neck. Sky-blue hair stretched down to his shoulders, parts of it were burnt. And his eyes were a vivid green. He was wearing gray pants and a pine-green shirt with a brown vest over it. Nothing like anything people in Luin would wear.

"Lucri," Anna said, "are you allowed to free him? Won't the mayor get mad at you?"

The beautiful woman turned to the elf, her eyes burning madly with love. "It doesn't matter, as long as he is safe."

Anna didn't have enough time to respond when they reached her house.

It was torn down limb by limb. It had once been the biggest house in Luin, with a huge oak tree and a garden, and it was now reduced to a pile of burning rubble and a smoking tree trunk. Desian soldiers searched through the debris, grunting heavily. Lucrietta pulled Tafete and Anna behind a small unharmed building, praying to remain unseen.

"Where are my parents?" Anna whispered.

"I don't know," Lucrietta whispered back. "But I'm sure they're fine."

Tafete pointed in the direction they had just come from. He said in a thickly accented voice that was foreign to Anna: "Look."

Anna turned to see her mother and father running towards her, their clothing torn and sticking to their bodies with sweat. They weren't injured, and they were oblivious to the Desians; who were too occupied with searching through the burning rubble. They ducked behind the building and held their daughter close, almost choking her.

"Are you alright?" Her mother asked, tears streaming down her face. "What happened? Were you chased? Did the Desians see you?"

Anna shook her head, her mother and father looked very worried, and her mother's voice had tensed at the last question, and Lucrietta's eyes dilated. "I'm fine," she said. "But the bad guys burnt down home... Where's Hildy?"

"Hilda is with some other family, hiding." Her father said. "But right now we need to be worrying about you. Kayla," he turned to her mother, "Take Anna away, you know where. Make sure the Desians don't find you and don't ever return to Luin, ever."

"But what about you, Daddy?" the girl asked, her eyes widening.

"I'm going to stay here and make sure Lucrietta doesn't get hurt. You and your mother need to get as far away from here as you can, do you understand me?" His voice strained, and he took a slight pause. "But one day, I'll find you, we'll be together again; just wait." His voice was quivering, as he was holding back tears.

Anna turned to her parents, who had just ended a particularly long kiss. "I love you, Matthias," her mother wheezed.

"I love you Kayla." her father said then he turned to Anna and kissed her cheek. Don't ever leave your mother alone, ever."

Anna turned to Lucrietta. Tears were welling in her usually glowing eyes, she pulled Anna into a hug. "I'm going to miss you, Anna," she managed to choke. "Stay safe." Lucrietta wanted to say more, but the little girl wouldn't understand; it would be too much for her. She managed to kiss her forehead and whisper "I love you."

"Love you too," Anna said, not understanding the seriousness of this moment. That this could be the final time someone would hug her, hold her tight, and whisper the last three words to her.

She felt her mother take her hand and squeeze it. Her blue eyes watering and reddening, she closed her eyes trying to hold back the tears. "Come on, Anna, let's go."

Her mother pulled her away, the little girl looked back at the people she loved (and Tafete, who she didn't even know but someone she loved loved him), and waved, then she turned back around and never turned back. It was the last time they ever saw the little girl.

Lucrietta was still kneeling on the ground, tears streaming down her face. She knew she wouldn't make it out alive. The Desians were powerful, and they would kill her. She took off her glasses and wiped them on her skirt, then placed them back on, hoping to get a better view of the last time she saw Anna Irving. She mouthed the words, "I'll see you again, one day." Knowing the words were not true; though praying to Martel they were.

Her hands fell onto the ground, her knees not containing enough strength to hold her up. She cried, trying to keep it as silent as possible, but it wasn't worth it. Desians had already come; they pointed their arrows at Anna's father, Tafete and herself. The lead Desian raised his hand, and shouted a single word.

"Fire."

Kratos watched from his perch in a tree as the City of Hope, Luin, was burned to the ground. The surviving townspeople probably won't be so hopeful afterwards, if there are survivors. He sighed; did those soldiers seriously think that the little girl would just climb right into their open arms? It seemed like they were just burning down everything, hoping she would come out and hold their hand. Her parents would obviously try fleeing from the city for fear that they would take them back to the ranch, if they were alive. But the Desians weren't like that, what's the point of chasing after two old ones when you could get a hundred new? He knew they weren't going to actually think of that idea, which was why he stayed behind. Someone had to think statistically.

This was when he heard it.

A voice, oddly high-pitched and loud; belongs to a little girl. "Mommy, I'm tired. Do we have to keep going so fast?"

Another voice came, a woman's. She was speaking softly. "We have to keep going. And don't talk, we don't want to be heard, Anna."

Anna.

Kratos smirked, then drew his wings and jumped off the branch. He soared above the treetops and spotted them. They were traveling through a small meadow, the woman a fair distance ahead, almost running. With the girl walking slowly, her head low. The woman turned back and ran towards Anna, grabbing her hand and pulling her forward, and then she began running. The little girl could hardly keep up, but she couldn't' stop, she was being dragged.

Soon, they would reach the place where Rebecca and her family rested. The bloody scene would definitely get them started.

Kratos could easily kill the mother and take the girl to the ranch right now if he wanted to. But he would wait until they got farther away from town to make his move. Then it would take longer for the body to be found, and robbers or thieves could kill them far from town; the perfect cover. No one would expect their beloved Cruxis was making an extremely powerful exsphere out of this little girl.

A shrill scream cut through the air. They had obviously reached Rebecca. He flapped his wings and flew off in their direction.

From above the trees, he could see the little girl, Anna, close to Rebecca's disembodied head. Her mother was standing by the man, awe-struck. Then she ran towards her daughter and grabbed her by the wrist. "We can't stay!" She screamed as she pulled her daughter away, beginning to run in the direction they had planned. "This could happen to us! We must leave!"

Anna didn't seem to hear her mother. But she ran with her, in a daze. They raced through a small area of trees and countless other vegetation. Then, when they reached another field, the woman tripped over a rock and she fell with a crack. Her leg was twisted in a disgusting fashion, and she screamed in pain. The little girl was ahead, still running when she heard her mother scream.

Kratos descended into the surrounding forest, he quickly focused his mana, mumbled a few words, then cast Grave on the woman.

The rocks protruding from the ground knocked her head, arms, and legs. Then, the final rock, the pointed one, emerged from the ground and drove through her stomach. Blood poured from the wound, and when the rock vanished back into the ground, her body fell to the ground with a repugnant noise.

Anna's head turned to her mother and she ran to her on short legs. She kneeled onto the ground at her side, her back towards Kratos. He stepped out of his cover of the trees, and walked towards them. He was directly behind Anna, his sword drawn, its hilt toward the back of the girl's head, so he could knock her out quickly with little noise. But her mother slowly moved her head to Kratos. Blood poured out of her nose, ears and head, and her eyes were bloodshot, but they were covered in anger.

"May Martel curse you," she said with all her strength. "May she look upon you in shame, may she curse you and kill you. May you be cursed, you angel of death. May the goddess curse you, you angel of death."

Then, her eyes lolled back and the raspy fall of her chest ceased. She had revealed his mistake.

He still had his wings exposed.

He quickly hit the girl's head and she fell on top of her mother's body.

And that was the end of it.

Mithos clapped when I entered the room, a giddy smile plastered on his face. "Well done, well done," he said. "If I hadn't picked you to do this that girl would be as far away from Luin as possible. Maybe in Palmacosta, catching a boat to Izoold, believed to have been killed along with the rest of that pitiful city."

I shook the compliments off. "I believe her parents knew she was wanted by the Desians, possibly others, what happened to them?"

His face turned grim. "Yes, somehow they must have suspected it, but my spies in Luin have informed me that they were all killed. Including the old woman and that beautiful young girl, two people she had close contact to. A shame, really." He replied. "All of my spies ran off to some other cities, along with most of Luin, they don't want to live in that damn place. But, someone who I think would be interested in being recruited has decided to stay, so he can keep an eye on things there."

"If you don't mind me asking, Mithos," I said. "What is going to happen to Anna?"

"Well, they're going to just keep monitoring her for several years, completing the tests and preparing her for the exsphere, then I don't even know. They're going to stick it on her without a Key Crest and see what happens." Mithos turned to me and narrowed his eyes. "You don't mean that, do you? If you must know, the Angelus Project's goal is to create an extremely powerful Exsphere that can turn a human being, or elf or what-ever, into an angel. Like you and me."

"Will she end up the same way as a normal person at the ranch would?"

"Yes, of course she will, after all, this is the most extremely powerful exsphere to ever exist. It will kill her eventually, but we will have another angel to help to us bring back my sister. And as your reward for going down there and retrieving her, you can choose who it will be."

I didn't exactly understand how this would be a reward. Like Mithos and Yuan, I knew no one down at Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, but Mithos probably wanted me to pick one of the Desian Grand Cardinals, no, Pronyma.

Mithos's voice cut through my thoughts. "Please leave now Kratos, I need time to think."

I nodded and made my way to the door, on my way out, I saw Yuan staring at me, shaking his head.

I can't remember what happened. I just woke up in a cell; they had taken my clothes and replaced them with a torn dress way too big for me. Probably two feet taller than how I was then, and the chest area was huge. They gave me one meal a day, usually molding chicken or a bowl of what they called soup, which was water and rotting vegetables. They kept my cell away from everyone else, so I was always alone. Two guards were posted always at each of its sides, they never spoke, and they only fed me and let me go into a small room every couple of hours to relieve myself.

Everyday a short half-elf with white hair and wearing a dark blue outfit would come to my cell. Soon I found out his name was Kvar, and I was at the Asgard Human Ranch, and Kvar was its leader. He would unlock the cell and two guards would drag me out and place me in this cold room. Two half-elves dressed in white would draw blood, take swabs of my spit, take my temperature, give me shots and all these countless other things. But other times he would take me to this small room overlooking a huge place with conveyer belts, people would go in this small room at the top, and they wouldn't come back out.

Kvar explained how exspheres were made, and what he did here at the ranch, but he would never tell me why I was here. Sometimes when he stopped by he would give me other meals, and I was always healthier than the other people here. They would be pale and skinny, while I was completely rested, and my stomach full. Whenever I coughed or sneezed the guards would immediately sound a horn and two Desians would come rolling into my cell and taking me into the cold room where the half-elves in white would give me dose after dose of this gooey formula. Whenever I was hungry food was brought to me, it was like I was being waited on, but my servers weren't showing me any hospitality.

I don't know how much time had passed. But I grew, and my dress was only six inches bigger than I was, and it fit me much better. One day, while I was at the cold room, one of the half-elves nodded at the other one, who nodded back and exited the room. He came back with Kvar, who was snickering. The white-clad hybrids filled up a needle with this strange yellow liquid that they had never used before, they grabbed my arm and stabbed it into me. I screamed, it was more painful than anything they had ever given me before. It made me feel hollow, and the eerie feeling spread through my body, until i couldn't move. The 'doctors' grabbed a stretcher, placed me on it, then zoomed me out of the room. I couldn't think, my head was buzzing, I wanted to scream, let it all be over with.

They sped me through countless hallways, until they came to a huge door, they stopped; Kvar walked calmly to the door, and punched some numbers onto the number pad. The door opened, and instead of running again, they walked calmly through. They lifted me out of the stretcher and onto this coffin like thing. It was a coffin straight up, but instead of a door, it had orange belts. They strapped me down until I could hardly breathe. I got a good look at the room.

There were huge tubes filed with blue liquid that bubbled constantly. They were filled with Exspheres, piled high, Anna was repulsed. How many lives did it take to make all those Exspheres? There was another tube, in the center of all the other ones. It was filled with a green liquid, instead of blue, and it didn't house hundreds of Exspheres, but instead there was only one.

Kvar walked to the other side of the room, and stopped in front of a large, bulky machine. He fiddled with the controls, then the green tube emptied out with a flushing noise, he pressed other buttons, then a small door opened on the tube. He stepped towards it, reached in and pulled out the Exsphere. He laughed like a maniac. He started walking towards me, holding out the Exsphere towards me. I could feel its pull, it was calling me.

_Come to me Anna. Come to me._

I wanted to fight, but I couldn't move. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. I wanted to run away. Run back into the past. But I couldn't; I was stuck here, whether I liked it or not.

Now, Kvar was right in front of me. I felt tears escape my eyes, and he finnaly told me why I was here.

"Like everyone else here, you will be a host for your exsphere, and eventurally I will remove it and it will kill you. Then, your exsphere will be used to make a human into a super being, and that human will destroy Sylvarant."

Then, he pressed the exsphere onto my chest.

I wanted to scream. It felt like my skin was tearing away, like it was eating itself. It felt like it was trying to conquer me, to control my body and my mind, make me bow down to its every will.

Suddenly, so many thoughts came to me. Thoughts of my old home in Luin, my friends, my parents, Lucrietta, Hilda, everything that I once knew. I used to never be able to remember it, ever. The vivid memories of my last day there, the blood, the horror. I remembered my mother's last words:

_May Martel curse you, you angel of death._

Then, just as quickly as the memories had entered my mind, they vanished, and I felt hollow again.

Years went by, but still I couldn't remember all that I could on that dreadful day. My Exsphere was still on me, and black spidery lines had emerged from it, making all of my surrounding skin pale. I had forgotten the names of my parents, and of the pretty red-haired woman who would care for me. I would dig deep into my mind to find them, but they wouldn't come, I knew I remembered them, but they had disappeared.

I also began noticing everything that happened with my Exsphere.

For one thing, sometimes, when I focused hard enough, I could remember some things from my childhood, usually only something that was said, or a picture, but then it would fade, and I wouldn't be able to remember what I had just seen.

I remembered how Exspheres would give you strength, so did mine, but just at the peak of its strength it would fade, and I could hardly move, speak, or breathe sometimes. I would use my energy so quick, I would sometimes just fall to the ground, after only walking around my cage for a while. Things were so hard, I was weak, I couldn't think straight. I knew my Exsphere was taking all my energy away and absorbed it for itself. I had become a host for a very dangerous thing.

I suddenly became Kvar's least favorite prisoner, some days I wouldn't get any food at all. The guards would spit at my cage as they walked by, and it was often a punishment to be one of my guards.

I had slowly gotten used to my random black-outs and my small blotches of amnesia. I wanted to get out of here so bad, get someone to remove my Exsphere without killing me, and get as far away from here as I could.

It wasn't until I was twenty years old when I had my attempt at escape.

IC: I am so sorry it took me forever to get this story up. My computer went totally poopy and deleted this whole entire chapter so I had to go back and fix it all up. I am going to do the first person PoV thing every chapter, just to tell ya. I''m only going to do Yuan, Kratos and Anna for PoVs. I know Kratos's was really short and crappy, but it got my message across. I did enjoy Anna's, though. Also, I hate the name of this story, so if anyone has any better ones I could use that would be great. I know I put in a little hint for one of the characters for Tales of Symphonia 2, I was thinking about putting him in the story so I asked my friend Piggachew if she liked it, and she did so there both of them are, fresh out of my head for you. Note to Piggy: You'll see him in the later chappies, I promise. I won't be able to update until September so, be nice to me! R&R!


	2. Reunited

Iceclaw14: Hey people, welcome to chapter two of _Intertwined_! I'm going to do something cool here; for this entire chapter I'm going to have a sock on my left hand. So far, it's not that hard, except you do have to worry about pushing more than one key at a time. But I am a pretty good typer. Maybe next time I'll have a sock on my right hand, then the next time I'll have it on both hands. Then I'll type with my elbows, then my toes, then my tongue! Oh I can tell this is going to be a lot of fun. Now, back with the story, Anna was taken at age eight, and now she is twenty. That's it, hope you like this chappie! Disclaimer: I own nothing... bla bla bla...

_**BLA BLA**_

"Kratos, how are you?" Mithos asked him, though they both knew the answer would forever be the same.

"I am fine, Lord Mithos," He would always respond. He followed the old tradition, and knelled.

The Seraphim sighed. "Kratos, how many times do I have to tell you." he said, reaching out to grab the swordsman's shoulder. "You do not have to bow down to me, we are both one of the four Seraphim, we have no power over one another." Kratos rose, and the blonde half-elf smiled a false grin. He then turned to Yuan, who had accompanied Kratos, that was putting it sweetly; truthfully Mithos had summoned them both, and they had just met each other in the lonely halls of Derris-Kharlan.

Yuan never bowed, and Kratos was still unsure of whether or not he did so because he knew Mithos had no power of him, or as more as rebellious act. Mithos simply nodded at his blue-haired superior, who glared at him with an age-old hatred. Mithos was oblivious to it, or maybe he was used to it...there was still much Kratos didn't understand.

"Now, to sum it up quickly," Mithos began, stepping back to give the summoned two more breathing space; not like they needed much. "Experiment A012, the girl who took several years ago to Kvar's ranch, Kratos." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Yuan's face turn grim, if it was even possible. "Kvar requests that I come down to see her and consult with the scientists about the results and experiments, but obviously I cannot, I would cause to much a commotion. Then, on the other hand, the Chosen of Tethe'alla, has reached the age of sixteen; I would like one of you to pay a visit to her, she seems to have the idea that if she were to team up with a summoner she could somehow reverse the flow of mana so that Sylvarant would not be that decaying world it is. She has almost as much power as the king, and now that she is sixteen she can do whatever pleases her. I want one to travel down, and give her a nice talking to, understand?"

"I'll take care of the Chosen," Yuan quickly said. "I do believe we both have the same definition of talking to, don't we?"

Mithos smiled. "I really hope we do. Now, Kratos," he turned to his favorite Seraphim, that was still alive of course. "Then you will handle A012?"

Kratos nodded coldly; and Mithos dismissed the two with a wave of his hand. Kratos twisted on his heel, and pushed open the door to the hallway; to find Yuan pulling one of his white threads to face him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Kratos spun, and Yuan, with his death-grip on his clothing, was shoved to the wall. He grunted "Ow," out of pure instinct. Kratos's face remained cold, his mask unbroken; Yuan had not let go of him. The infuriated half-elf turned to him, his blue eyes smoldering. "You don't know how much of a bastard you are, do you?" He sneered. "You go off killing people whenever the situation comes to a breaking point, don't you? You just can't take anything more."

Kratos was still unmoved, and he replied blandly. "If I were you I wouldn't be talking, you just volunteered yourself to kill a Chosen of Mana that is slowly discovering the way to reunite the two worlds." Yuan was taken aback, his features opening. "I thought that was what you and your Renegades are fighting for."

Yuan quickly forced himself back into the argument. "Mithos and I do not have the same definition of 'taking care of'; I plan on using her to my advantage. If I can slowly coax her in the right direction. I'm sure she'll be doing it all on her own."

Kratos didn't meet Yuan's eyes. "I believe we both know how often your devious plans fall to the ground ablaze."He reached back and released Yuan's hand from his clothing. He walked down the hallway, the dazed half-elf still with his back against the wall as though the human were still pressing him painfully against it. "Good luck." Kratos mumbled.

_**BLA BLA**_

Anna stared intently at the two guards outside of her secluded cell. They were completely oblivious to her, and she wished to remain that way so they wouldn't suspect anything brewing in her mind. She grinned in her mind, her heart racing.

She suddenly felt weak, and she had to lean against the wall, her hand on her forehead. _Come on, Anna, _ she encouraged herself. _Not now, you can do this afterwards._

Her body did not bend to her will, and she took long, deep breaths; working desperately to slow her heart. Her head felt as though it had been run over by a carriage.

Soon, her headache caved, and she felt the strength slowly returning to her. She told herself to just keep going, she just couldn't miss a chance like this.

An hour passed, her eyes followed the guards as though the moment they left them, she would fall into a everlasting, tenebrous abyss. Because she hadn't actually referred to time since she was eight, she didn't know an hour had passed. It felt like mere seconds.

Soon enough, the first guard turned to the other, and nodded. The second guard nodded back, and Anna felt her heart speeding up. She forced herself to calm down, though her mind was bubbling.

She silently rose from her spot against the wall, and crept towards the cell wall, near the keypad. She stuck her skinny hands through the cell bars, and settled them on the numbers. Anna waited patiently until the guards had made it to the door, preparing for the change in shift.

The first guard reached forward towards the keypad on the other door, and Anna's fingers twitched uncontrollably. She had studied these guards for years, and though her memory was for some reason uncontrollably awful, seeing them all the time made her quickly remember.

At the exact millisecond the guard punched in the first number, she pushed in her own first. This guard knew the password well, and quickly pushed the first four numbers quickly, but he always had a pause between the fourth number and the final one.

She pressed down on the first four numbers in perfect unison.

_3581_

Though she still wasn't good enough. She pushed the final number, _4,_ directly after the third. The guards spun on their heels to face her as the door made a satisfying beep and swung quickly open. The first guard turned back to the door and pressed the final number, and it too beeped and quickly swung open.

The second guard had sprinted towards her, pulling out his whip and snapping it open angrily. Anna closed her eyes, she focused all her energy to her hand. Then she quickly opened them again, a new fire burning in them. The guard was several feet in front of her, and she leaped into the air.

She jumped over the guard, and on her way down she smacked her hand onto the top of his head; and he crumpled to the ground. She landed sloppily, having to place her other hand on the ground to steady her fall. _No more fancy stuff, _she thought to herself.

Anna looked up, the first guard was pressing in a new number on the key pad. One she had never seen used before.

_20148_

At the exact moment he pressed on the last number, an alarming siren sounded from the walls. The guard snickered at Anna, then charged towards her. She was more than prepared. She stuck out her foot and tripped the guard, who landed painfully back onto the ground. She didn't have time to finish him off, she just had to hope he didn't wake back up.

Anna, took one long deep breath, then sprinted through the open door, and it immediately slammed shut behind her.

_**BLA BLA**_

Kratos loathed going to Tethe'alla and Sylvarant. When he was forced by Mithos to go, he didn't interact with towns and villages, nor did he travel or speak with anyone. He reluctantly arrived, completed his business, then retreated back to Derris-Kharlan; he only came down to the Worlds about once every twenty to thirty years.

Another of Kratos many Angelic properties was the sheer fact that he could teleport to anyplace in either of the two worlds and Derris-Kharlan, which completely eliminated communication with any being.

So, of course, Kratos transported himself to Kvar's ranch, in the Control Room, only three feet from the half-elf's face. He ghosted into the groom with a mild flurry of glowing feathers, and Kvar slightly jumped at his arrival. He had been talking with one of the Desians, who had noticed that one prisoner had died. At Kratos's abrupt and dreaded arrival; the Desian soldier had froze, he had heard stories of Kratos, passed on from Desian to Desian about the cruel death of the Angelus Project's mother. Had heard the rumors of irrational murders and his dead heart, and standing so close to him made him only more fearful.

Kvar gave a quick bow to the Seraphim, he did so bitterly, feeling no need to bow down to a inferior human; angelic or not. He twisted on his heel to the the squirming soldier. "Take it to the medic wing," he instructed, "the exsphere has had enough time to grow on that weakling, so hopefully we can successfully remove it and insert it onto another prisoner."

The soldier stood still for several more seconds before trudging out of the room quickly, his gait weak and frightened. Kratos did not need an explanation to what had happened, nor did her want one. The Grand Cardinal turned back to him, pulling the giddiest face he could manage.

The half-elf before him obviously took more to his Elven side, pointed ears, pale skin, small and squinty eyes with blank dark colors, and his small size, only reaching to Kratos's shoulders. But still he was a much revered and feared man to all, except for Kratos, Mithos and Yuan. Though he wasn't near a hundredth as intimidating as he, who was the most intimidating of them all **(A/N: I mean seriously, would you be scared more by Mithos about to kill you, Yuan about to kill you, or KRATOS with his wings out and his sword pointing at your head about to kill you? Everyone in the right mind should have chose Kratos, because he is the most scary out of all the Seraphim, he would be a great Halloween costume!)**.

"Ah, Kratos," Kvar greeted the Seraphim, "I had a feeling it would be you, Mithos had already sent you to fetch her, why wouldn't he send you to check on her?"

Kratos didn't glance at the half-elf, he loathed him, just for the sincere reason that he treated Kratos with a false respect and that he believed that Kratos couldn't kill him. Though he could, he could swing his sword and it would all be done with, but this bastard was too important to Mithos, and his demise would drastically damage Cruxis' plan.

Still Kratos's muscles twitched, and his hand settled strongly on his sword, and Kvar felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

_**BLA BLA**_

__Anna found herself stuck in one of those epic chase scenes. Guards from all corners had decided to follow her, but most knew she wouldn't last long. _Damn, _she cursed, as she swung her bloody knuckles at a speedy guard, proceeding to hear a loud crack sounding from his nose as he crumpled to the floor. _I should have known they would have some emergency siren, this is a high-tech base._

Her muscles screamed for stop, though she know she couldn't. Another guard stretched out his arm for her shoulder, and she swung around her leg to the upper part of his elbow, then she grabbed his forearm and smashed it against her uprisen leg, his forearm partially unhinged itself from the rest of his arm. He screamed horribly, and the rest of the Desian crowd swerved around him, intent on catching their prey.

She turned to face forward, and her eyes widened. There was a door directly ahead of her, and there was no other way out. She searched the sides of the door, yes, a keypad. Anna frowned, but who knew if the password to her cell and here were the same, and if she did stop to try, they would surely get her.

There was only one possibility left. As she neared the door, Anna stretched out her hand, and clenched it together in a fist. She sped herself to an unreal sprint, and her pursuers gasped and tried to catch up, but they were losing ground.

When she reached the door, she swung back her clenched fist. _Here goes nothing_, she thought; then, when she was about a foot from the keypad, she swung her fist forward onto it with impressive speed. The numbers cracked, and the door slide open. Anna smiled, she could tell she was getting closer and closer to freedom.

_**BLA BLA**_

"In case you are wondering," Kvar said to Kratos dully. "A012 has been doing fine, she is in a near perfect state of health."

Kratos couldn't care less about whether or not she was in perfect health or dead. But Mithos did care. _A fifth Seraphim,_ Mithos had said just before Kratos left, _would help us greatly on our quest to save Martel. A fifth Seraphim, Kratos, just think._

"Mithos only wants to know how the exsphere is coming along, he wants to know how much longer it will take before you will cultivate it." Kratos said in a bland tone. "And how long you suspect it would take for one who takes it in its completed state to become angelic."

Kvar's eyes darkened. "Well, we had to wait until A012 was in a fairly strong state before we could even give her the exsphere and not have her die on the spot. We only gave it to her six or seven years ago. Though it immediately showed signs of dominance, she has a weakened memory and is unbelievably strong at times, but that quickly shortens out and she becomes and weak as a newly born child; and often faints.

"We know that if any average human being were to equip it with a Key Crest, they're energy and strength would increase tenfold. So when she uses its power, she becomes stronger, but not strong enough." Kvar sighed, and Kratos shifted his weight onto his left side. "It will definitely take many more years for this exsphere to even allow a half-elf to grow wings on immediate contact."

Kratos's eyes darkened. Now that Kvar's petty speech was over he could leave.

A loud siren filled the tense air of the control room; and a grotesque smile slithered up to his small eye balls.

"I do believe you'll be having an unexpected personal meeting with her, on her own terms."

_**BLA BLA**_

Anna felt the energy slowly drain out of her, and it hurt to close her eyes then open them back up again. _I can't stop now, _she thought, urging herself onward, _I've done too much to just surrender_**(A/N: She really has, she broke two arms, one leg, dislocated three shoulders, broke two noses, and smashed one pinky to bits...poor pinky!)**_._ The guards chasing her had dwindled down to a lowly ten.

One began advancing on her from the right, and she swung back her fist and knocked out three of his teeth. He yowled from pain and stopped dead where he was, one down, nine to go.

She passed through three more locked doors and caused pain to three more of her pursuers. But it seemed like with every turn more joined through crusade, and it slowly became less pointless as she lost energy and neared the exit, or what she thought to be the exit.

Anna's eyes became heavy. And she felt her lower body seem to drag itself along. Her arms hurt, and her head spun. There was a door about several yards in front of her. It was different than all the other doors, except the door that led to the room with her cell. Her eyes widened. She always figured she was special, and this door before her was a cooler shade of metallic blue, it was larger, and...

It didn't have a keypad.

She knew that because this door was different, and because it didn't have a keypad, that they must be getting closer and closer to the exit. Security was always loose at the beginning, then it would tighten as you got farther and farther in to the more important stuff, like her.

This must be one of the last doors.

She was going to be free.

Even through Anna's important discovery, she felt her energy drain faster and faster from her body. It hurt, moving hurt, everything hurt. She wanted to stop, but she couldn't, she couldn't surrender now. She began breathing harder and harder, each feeble gasp of air becoming smaller and more overworked. She felt every part of her fade, her mind was burning.

She couldn't go on.

The door slid open in front of her, and she opened her eyes, might as well see the outside world, she had gotten this far.

She wasn't outside.

She was in a room with many glittering buttons, portals, and other pieces of Magitechnology. She felt herself falling on to the ground beneath her.

Anna saw one thing before she fell to the ground.

A man, wearing white clothing with strips of purple and golden leather atop of it. He had a sword sheathed at his side. His hair covered his right eye, and the other eye was a beautiful shade of brown with an almost purple undertone, wine colored. His eye was filled with a blank, tired look, and Anna felt like a child being scolded by her mother.

His eyes were as cold as the worst winter, the feeling of emptiness when one entered a dark room alone; the startling chill crawling up one's spine as they realized they were alone. It was the scariest thing Anna had ever seen in her life.

Look at these eyes, with such a strong and powerful feel, it made her seem like he was the god that controlled the world, that manipulated other people's lives and hearts like puppets. She knew he had a tight grasp on her strings, and that she was just a little bug, one that was squished by a small child as she walked home, candy jumping up and down in her pocket with every skip.

She was nothing.

Anna fell to the ground, unconscious.

_**BLA BLA**_

As the young woman fell lifelessly to the ground, Kratos was instantly reminded of killing her mother; though her mother's death consisted more of rocks going through her gut.

Kvar whispered tsk, tsk, through his teeth, once again forgetting the sincere fact that Kratos could hear anything. He glared at one of the guards, and opened his mouth to speak when the guard fell to the ground feebly, making a wheezing noise. Kvar blinked, than turned to another guard. "Bring her back to her cell," he commanded, motioning toward the unconscious Anna. "And I want every single password changed before she wakes."

"Yes sir!" Responded the guard, but Kratos waved his hand to stop the guard.

"Let me to take her to her cell," he said. "I should have a good look at the exsphere before I return to Lord Yggdrasil."

Kvar nodded numbly, "Yes Lord Kratos," he glanced back at the guard, who was left with no job. "Reset the passwords."

"Yes sir!" Said the Desian, and he marched away, back down the hallway where he had so abruptly emerged.

The other Desians were dismissed, given other useless jobs; which left Kvar and Kratos alone in the control room. The half-elf sighed, "She has never before caused so much trouble. It is a sign that the Angelus Project is giving her unexpected strength."

Kratos stepped forward, and kneeled down above the young woman. "The strength doesn't last long, that is obvious."

Kvar, once again, was outshone by Kratos, who was oblivious to Kvar's worthless acts that prayed for Lord Yggdrasil to notice him and become the leader of the Five Grand Cardinals.

The blue-winged swordsman, was entranced by the unconscious woman before him. Her entire body was pale, like it had never seen the light of day in many years. Her hair was a thick, warm brown that extended about six inches past her shoulder blades. It was uncombed, and knots tangled in every possible inch. Her dress was torn and worn to a pulp, with a distinctly large rip beginning below her small, left breast and moving diagonally down to her belly button. In had the faded combination of numbers and letters _A012_ on another section of the dress, but compared to all of the other prisoners Kratos has seen in his unbearably long life, she glimmered like a beacon through the darkest nights.

He slid his arms carefully underneath her knees and back, and lifted her off the ground as he stood up straight. As expected, she was freakishly light, but, of course, Kratos hardly noticed; for he was very strong.

Kratos carried the girl through lone halls, and for the longest moment, it seemed like they were the only living things in the ranch, like it all depended on what he did. She was delicate and frail, and it felt like the slightest disturbance would cause her to shatter to a million pieces onto the floor. A million, uncollectible pieces, pieces that were so small, not even Kratos could see them.

He reached her cell quickly, to find two guards splayed grotesquely on the ground, one with a broken neck; the other with a dislocated shoulder. The door to her cell was left wide open, and he slunk effortlessly through.

Some unexplainable part of him felt it wrong to just let her go here and slam the door to her cell shut on her back, and walk away. He found himself walking to the back of the cell, and slowly easing her down on the ground against the wall. He placed her on her back, and arranged her limbs to be straight against her body.

Kratos rose from the ground,and stared down at the woman beneath him. She looked peacefully asleep, embraced in a warm, dreamless slumber. There was an unexplainable calmness to her, like she had not just ran through the entire ranch and gravely injured many Desians.

She was brave and strong, so unlike the girl Kratos had captured all those years ago, she could fight for herself.

He found himself leaning down on her for countless more moments, closely examining every part of her; her pale skin, thick hair, and her softly closed eyes. Kratos noticed the part he thought he would never miss.

The exsphere.

It was grotesque. The exsphere was jet black, and it caused gray-black lines to spider out around it. They pulsed with her heart. The skin around the exsphere was white as death; Kratos couldn't understand how anyone could still fight when they had such a powerful exsphere holding them back.

He was entranced by her, and it hurt to leave her there.

Alone.

_**BLA BLA**_

I arrived at Derris-Kharlan with a flurry of glowing feathers that lit up its tenebrous halls for only the slightest moment before they slunk back into their empty darkness. I stepped forward heavily, and began making my way to Mithos's room.

Kvar had not been much of a help, I knew hardly anymore than I had when I left for Sylvarant. Mithos would not be pleased; he would have to wait very long for the exsphere to be ready, though years were on such short terms in my eyes. My cold, lifeless eyes.

Yuan jumped in front of me, a sneer on his face. "What did you discover about her?"

I kept my feet planted on the ground. I had never been swayed by Yuan and his judgements, and they were all the same, mounting on me like a single grain of sand. "To think you weren't interested," I sighed.

Yuan's face reddened. His left foot moved backwards and he placed all his weight on his left as he leaned forward at me in a feeble presentation of his boiling anger. "I don't care about this ridiculous project!" He yowled. "I don't want this innocent woman to suffer."

"We all have to make sacrifices,"I said. "She should be lucky, being such an important part to Cruxis' mission."

"Our mission is a lie!"

"Think what you want, Yuan." I responded, crossing my arms over my chest and looking down at the half-elf. "But this is to save Martel."

Yuan froze for a second, his face freed itself from its angered expression, then it slid quickly back. "Martel didn't want this! She wanted half-elves to stop being discriminated! She didn't want us to lie to not only one world, but two!" Yuan screamed loudly, his face reddened to the color of blood. "She wanted everyone to be treated the same."

I stepped easily passed Yuan, and continued on my way to Mithos's room. "A fifth Seraphim will help in her resurrection, Yuan, so that you may have her, and that she can direct us to her goal."

_**BLA BLA**_

It was weird. When I woke up, everything was new, everything had changed. I received fresh guards, and no longer did they slump and talk casually about the food they serve here, but they stood straight, and never said a word. There were now four of them, and they all seemed like they had a job to do.

The passwords were changed, then they converted everything from codes to cards, I've only seen one type of cards now; the blue which opened the door. I'm positive that there is a different card to open my cell.

I soon forgot everything that happened during my escape.

Everything, but one thing.

I forgot about all the damage I had caused to the ranch and the guards, I forgot about the adrenaline that rushed through my veins, I forgot all the pain, and the feeling of almost reaching the end.

What I did remember, was the lifeless man.

Part of me wanted to forget him. He made my blood freeze, and my body shake. But still something drew me to him, and the half rooting for his remembrance won, and I tried hard not to forget him. I don't know why, not at all.

Maybe it was because he was the only thing I can remember, the only thing.

Maybe it was some other reason, some reason I don't know.

Something about him appalled me. His frozen eyes, his tenebrous, unfathomable aura. The way his hair covered one of his eyes, like if she ever caught a glimpse of it, it might just kill her. He gave off the waves of prowess, and murder. Something made my heart stop.

Still, something made me feel safe, invincible. There was a never ending... feeling that I couldn't identify. I don't know whether or not that feeling made me unbreakable.

No matter how hard I tried, no matter how hard I prayed and fought.

I eventually...

Forgot.

_**BLA BLA**_

IC: I feel like crying, that last part really hurt here. My heart, I mean. I'm not crying though... weirds... I cried earlier today when I cracked my elbow. It didn't even hurt that much but I still did. Whatever, so how did you guys like this chappie? I know it was only a bit bigger than half the size of the first chapter, but I don't think it was because I was slacking, like I did for the third chapter of HoD, I need to go back and fix that one. I felt like the first chappie for this story was much more dense and and more important things happened that I couldn't just accent in a couple words. I think those two chapters have an entirely different feel to them, wouldn't you agree? Just review if you want the next chapter to come up sooner, because when I get a review I feel like the only thing I can do to thank you is to write write write! Review, and tell me your thoughts!


	3. Escape

Iceclaw14: Hey guys, I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I'm really sorry. There's been so much going on lately, but I can't make excuses. I want to say thank you to all my reviewers, especially you, Andy; every time you guys reviewed it was like a pat on the back and a slap in the face all at once. A pat on the back because, as you authors should know, it's awesome to get a review, and a slap because it reminded me I still haven't updated. Now, if I'm taking too long, you guys just say so, okay? I'll get right to the story. Now, it's been six years, so now Anna is twenty-six, and this is the last time I'm going to have such long differences in time. Okay? Disclaimer: I don't own anything blah blah.

**Page Break**

Anna's face was pressed against the cold floor, her body twitching uncontrollably. From the Exsphere embedded in her chest rose a massive pain, one that dulled her senses, so she was only aware of it. The dark lines from the Exsphere were spreading on her skin, and they grew larger.

A ring from the door came, and it slid open revealing a Desian woman carrying a tray. She hobbled over to Anna, then she unlocked a small portion of the door using a red card, the hole being only big enough for the tray. Then she tossed the tray through the hole, its contents pouring onto the ground.

Anna, in her critical state, didn't respond if she had noticed her meal enter the door. The Desian woman snorted haughtily, then turned back to the guards and walked out the door.

When Anna finally came to, the pain dissolving from her, she noticed the food piled on the floor. After her vision settled, she dashed over to it on her hands and knees, and hungrily stared over it. It was one slice of old, moldy bread, and cup of water, but majority of the water had spilled from the cup. She reached and pulled the cub back up vertically, relieved to see that majority of the water didn't leave it. She quickly poured the water down her throat then wolfed down the bread. After her small meal, her stomach growled even louder.

She rested a hand on it, hoping it would not be loud. These flashes of pain had started coming faster, and became more common. They also became more painful, and afterwards her vision was blurry and her mind a jumbled mess or more of a mess than it usually was. She was suddenly fatigued, and again began to lie down on the floor. She shuddered as the cold floor collided with her body, and it sent shivers through her body. She laid there; spent of all energy she had, and waited for sleep to grab her.

**Page Break**

Kratos walked steadily through the gloomy halls of Derris Kharlan to his chambers, or to a portal to his chambers. There was a slight malfunction with one of the non-vital pieces of equipment, but he quickly had had it sorted. He came to the room with a black-winged angel standing behind the machinery, smacking it with his fist. Of course he heard the Seraphim enter, and he turned to greet him.

"Lord Kratos," he said, in a bland voice. "I am sorry to say this but the portal is down, it should be back up in an hour or so, I am working on getting it repaired as quickly as possible, my Lord."

Kratos simply looked at the angel for the slightest moment before turning on his heel back into the hallway. The journey to his room was not far, nor difficult to travel to; and the time consumption didn't affect him.

Angels were hovering past him quickly, most carrying tools to help repair broken machines, others hollering in cool voices to send for more repairs. They all made an impenetrable circle about him, which gave him more room to walk. **(A/N: Kratos prefers walking in Derris Kharlan, especially when there are lots of other angels about, it makes him feel different from them, not dead.)**

He was almost to the corner of the hallway to his chambers when he heard a voice; he froze and hardly dared to breathe, he knew the owner of the voice could hear his every move. Footsteps came from through a wall across from Kratos, then they stopped, and he could hear the bearer slump to his knees.

The voice was recognizable from the first syllable. "Lord Mithos, I have come."

As was the responding one. "Ah, Yuan, you may rise, no need to kneel before me. _Lord_ Yuan."

"Why have you summoned me, then?" Yuan said haughtily, "you know there is a mechanical situation happening around here, and I must keep the angels at bay. And make sure they don't blow up the place."

Stark-like laughter echoed through the halls. "Why Yuan, that would be awful!" Yggdrasill joked, then his voice claimed seriousness. "You know why I have called you, our plan is going well."

"Which plan? As you know we have so many."

"The one for us, for only us," he said. "Martel's dream, Yuan, a world without discrimination."

Kratos perked his ears, this was a touchy topic for Mithos, who was commonly unwilling to discuss his sister.

Yuan sighed. "Ah, so you mean the one about turning everyone into lifeless beings? Yes, that one is going splendidly."

The purple-clad Seraphim felt his eyes widen. What was Yuan talking about? He had never heard of such an idea, only the one to use the Chosen One to bring Martel back to life. Turning every living creature on the two worlds into lifeless beings… was cruel. Why would Mithos do that? What would cause him to want to end all life.

Mithos hushed him. "Must you talk so loudly? You know Kratos has no recollection of our plot, and I would prefer to keep it that way." He sighed. "He doesn't understand, he doesn't know what we went through. All the hatred, always having the sword pointed at us. No one deserves to live that way, and Kratos never has been turned against in all situations."

Kratos took a deep breath, silently, of course; he could bear it no longer. He released his wings and flew through the hall. He arrived at his chambers quickly, and effortlessly pulled open the door and slid in.

Like the rest of Derris Kharlan, his room was purple, and dreary. The walls were also engraved with symbols similar to the halls'. There was a stone desk in the room, in front of a cold stone chair, a closet, a dresser, and a bed; that was now used by Noishe. The white and green Protozoan lifted his head from the bed at Kratos's entrance, and wagged his tail.

He ignored the large creature and shuffled through his drawers, pulling out Gels, lots of bottles, and some bracelets and necklaces. He stuffed them all in his rucksack that he had pulled out of his closest; during this time, Noishe was staring at him, his head cocked to the side. He whimpered, loudly, then snorted.

"I'm leaving," Kratos replied simply, "I can't stay here any longer."

Noishe's tail smacked onto the bed, and he barked joyfully. His master gave him a cold glare, and he became silent. The Protozoan silently slid off the bed and used his nose to open the closet door on the other side of the room and he slipped in. He returned several seconds later, Kratos's scabbard in his mouth. He walked over to the swordsman and sat next to him, his tail wagging as he lifted his head high to give it to Kratos.

The Seraphim took it from him, and pulled the sword out from in it. The Flamberge's glow quickly lit up the room in a warm and orange glow. The flames licked the blade with contentedness, and small sparks flew off the metal. Kratos sheathed it, and attached it to his belt. He swung the rucksack over his shoulder and began making his way out when Noishe pulled on his cape.

The Protozoan's eyes were glittering, and his tail had stopped wagging. He understood that his master was leaving, but he didn't know something.

"Noishe, you need to stay here," Kratos said, and the protozoan let go of his cape. "I can't take you with me, you know it." He turned his back to the creature, and left the room; leaving it whimpering pathetically.

"Going somewhere?" Said Yuan, who was leaning against the wall facing the door to Kratos's chambers.

"I am not the only one to go against Mithos's will," Kratos tartly retorted, " and I have fully a right to leave. You cannot stop me."

"Who ever said I would try and stop you?" The half-elf laughed. "I'm just wondering if you plan to help me with my Renegades."

"I have no plans to assist you," he gravely said.

Yuan's eyebrows arched. "Then what are you going to do?"

Kratos slid past Yuan, and several yards away when he replied over his shoulder.

"Something even better."

**Page Break**

Anna was lying haphazardly on the floor, her limbs splayed; when Kvar entered. Again, he was as orderly as he always was, his hands folded neatly behind his back. He stood in the center of the room, and stared at her with his piercing eyes. Anna, being in a horrendous state, could only respond by meeting his gaze with terror.

"Guards," Kvar said, "go pull her out of there and bring her here, I need to have a good look at her Exsphere."

The guards complied, and she was now slumped on the ground before the Desian Grand Cardinal, one guard still remained behind her, using his sturdy hand to hold her mostly upright. Kvar settled onto one knee and lifted her chin to get a clear view of her Exsphere. He touched the tender skin around it, sending shockwaves of pain through her body.

"Swollen," he murmured, and he began fingering other places near it. "It's settling in nicely, though, and now it has started to take effect on her." He rose, and turned to the gaurds. "Keep her fed," he ordered. "Double her ration and be sure she eats all of it. Be sure she remains in the best condition she can be. It was during this time that the previous experiment was killed."

He circulated around her, making sure to catch every detail. "What has she been doing lately?"

"Not good sir," a guard replied. "She does eat all her food, but spends most of the time unconscious or just lying on the ground."

Kvar's eyes bore into Anna's skin, and she was aware of small tingling in the lower part of her spine. Her minded had dampened. She struggled to keep her eyes open and be at least a bit aware of the situation unraveling before her.

"That's a good sign, we know the Exsphere has begun taking more of a toll on her, finally beginning to harvest its crop." He lightly ran his hand on her arm. "She's very pale and weak, she can hardly stand, be sure to leave her be for the remainder of the day, and try to keep things simple for her."

"Yes, sir." Came the response from behind Anna.

Kvar bent at the waist, and lifted her chin to stare him in his eyes of endless blue, ones that displayed no emotion, and also gave the impression of harboring the ability to see right through her. Into her twisted body, gazing at the infection growing at her chest.

"You be a good girl," he mocked. "You can understand me, can you?"

She gritted her teeth, and spat in his left eye. He reeled back, and wiped it off with the back of his glove. The Desian at her back wrenched at her arms, almost breaking them. Kvar only smirked. "Throw her back in her cell," he ordered. "Let her enjoy her last moments of rebellion before they end."

They obliged, and she was now ignored. The half-elf turned to his guards, and said, taking no caution to the fact that Anna might hear. "I'll have them inject her with the mineral by the end of the month, then none of us will have to deal with her."

But, Anna did hear.

It scared her.

**Page Break**

Kratos, whom had taken the portal to the Asgard Ranch, reappeared before two Desian guards. They slightly jumped at his entrance, though he simply walked past them. One caught up to him, and touched his shoulder, but quickly reclined, pressing his hand on his chest.

"Lord Kratos, we haven't expected your coming." He panted. "Why have you come, anyway?"

"Lord Yggdrasill wishes to have a report on A012, and Kvar has kept silence for the past several years. I came to investigate." Kratos replied.

The Desian froze for a split second. "But, my lord, A012 is currently in a very fragile state, and Kvar has pressed orders for none to see her." He stuttered. "She is about to be given the dose, and then you can see her, Lord Kratos. Please, leave her be."

"I have never before followed the orders of underlings or those of Kvar." Kratos said, unfazed. I am to see A012, and you or anyone else cannot stop me."

The Desian stood, and only watched as Kratos turned a corner and slid out of sight. Using the fear placed in the soldiers of him, he easily went through every locked door before him, and soon he came to the last one. He could tell by the four soldiers standing guard, the determined looks set on their faces.

He commanded them to open the door, and they did so, using a blue card. Then, he settled his hand on the Flamberge, they all became smoldering humps of burning flesh on the ground. The sword screamed gleefully as it came in contact with fresh blood.

There were four other guards on the other side of the door; he knocked them down just as easily. By now, Anna had noticed him. She was slowly rising from the wall of her cell, her movements slow and labored. Kratos positioned his sword on the wall of mana before him, and cut a large hole in it. He made it through, and Anna was still struggling to rise.

She was different than the previous time. Her hair was longer, still as knotted. But her skin was pale as a ghost, only skin and bones. Her dress was torn, and her breath was heavy.  
"Help-me," she gasped. Kratos stepped towards her, and wrapped his arm under her ribs. He assisted her on her feet, but still she heavily leaned on him. He cut a larger hole in the wall, this time to the outside world. The sunlight shone on Anna's face, and her eyes began to glitter, her face coloring. She opened her mouth to speak, but he sheathed his sword and adjusted his hand on her shoulder blades, and his other on the backside of her knees. He hoisted her up, and dashed out into the forest.

The guards had noticed their prize possession had gone. They were shooting arrows and spears at them, luckily, none had good aim. One arrow managed to lodge itself in Kratos's arm, but being that he felt no pain, it didn't slow him.

To know how long and far he traveled would be difficult for him to measure, but soon the arrows and spells couldn't reach him, and the footmen sent out had long given up. Night had cast over the forest, and Anna was unconscious. He settled down several miles from Luin, in a meadow surrounded by woods believed to be haunted, so the villagers would not find them. He propped her up against a tree, and wrapped his cape about her.

He settled to cleaning his wound, he slowly pulled out the arrow, now soaked in his blood. When it was released, he dropped it onto the ground, and saw yellow puss on it. An infection. Rummaging through his rucksack, he found his water skin (for Anna and cleaning wounds) and poured it over his wound. He felt it best not to use a healing spell, could just use a minor one if things got worse. He wrapped it in some spare cloth, and turned to Anna, who had been watching him for the past half an hour.

**Page Break**

He astonished me; that was the best way to put it. How he killed the soldiers and got me out of there with only one wound to prove it. He was not gasping for air, nor did he look fatigued in anyway. When he pulled out the arrow without even flinching he gave off the air of invincibility to me. His eyes were cold, and they reflected next to no moonlight.

"Are you well?" He asked in a deep, powerful voice.

I nodded numbly, and swallowed, trying to focus my strength to speaking. "Who are you?" I strained to keep my voice audible.

"My name is Kratos Aurion," he replied coolly.

"I am Anna," I said. "Though I can't remember my last name, nor anything else."

"Irving," he said, pulling out more contents from his rucksack. "Anna Irving. You're hometown is Luin, the town only several miles from here."

I felt my eyebrows arch, then knot together. "How do you know that much about me?" my voice raised. "And you are you anyway?"

"As I said before, my name is Kratos Aurion, and I am a mercenary." I blinked, pondering what a mercenary was **(A/N: She's been living in a cell for eighteen years, so she doesn't know anything, and these situations will come up often, I shall enjoy tormenting Kratos.)** "A bodyguard, or sometimes an assassin. I have been hired to release you from the Desians, the people that were holding you prisoner; and to protect you from harm."

"Who is your boss?" I asked, curious.

He sighed. "Maybe I'll bring you to him one day, but now he wishes to remain in secret until he is certain you are safe."

"So, how do you know so much about me?" I asked again.

"My proprietor has been watching your family for many generations." He said, his voice stone.

I looked up to the sky, and several lights caught my eye. They peaked through the branches and leaves, and I stared at them with awe.

"That's Luin," he said.

I recalled him telling me that was my hometown, and my heart called for me to go there. "Can we go there?"

"I'm afraid not, if we were discovered; we'll both be locked up."

"So even though I'm free I'm still limited to outside of cities?" I felt my throat begin to dry and my voice weakened.

"Yes," he said, having no care to my emotions. "Especially Luin, someone might recognize you and that would blow our cover."

Sleepiness over came my emotions, and I shot a quick glance at 'Kratos' before I closed my eyes and drifted off.

**Page Break**

I watched Anna sleep for several minutes until I was certain she would not wake. I knew that more questions would come the following day, possibly including topics that we had already gone over. She didn't recognize me, so I guessed that the Exsphere probably gave the bearer amnesia, possibly with other symptoms. Before she was actively conversing with me, now she was dead asleep. I wondered if it was to possibly give her advanced abilities, that is, of course, before it kills her.

I then decided that my original idea for this mission was worthless. She would know absolutely nothing about Kvar's, much less Mithos's, plans. She could hardly remember her own name. I still felt that having her here instead of at the ranch was still a huge act of defiance, it would take many years to start the research from scratch. I was fully aware that they wouldn't give her up that easily, and that they would have to travel quickly, if at all.

My eyes moved to Anna, her soft, pale face, down to her skinny arms and too large dress, too her starving legs, to her pale feet. She had no shoes, and her feet were covered in twigs and dirt. I knew that I would have to enter Luin and purchase some for her, her shoeless feet would surely slow us down.

My eyes moved back up to the Exsphere embedded in her chest. Using my Angelic sight, I could see every detail. It was a black color, and it swirled like a tornado. Gray lines fingered out from it, and they pulsed in tune with her heart beat, and the skin around them was red and swollen.

Gazing at her face, that had already begun to gain some color since their trek outside, there was sign of an endless battle, one that she wouldn't win. She seemed to have given up a long time ago.

But, if it came, I would win it for her.

**Page Break**

Iceclaw14: Again guys, I am so sorry for my slow update, so sorry. Thanks to all my reviewers and the people who gave me favorites. I'm going to join the "Review Campaign" which is something we authors are trying to do to get more reviews, so if you guys want quicker updates, please review. I liked this chappie, and I hoped you did too! Bye!


	4. Anniversary

Iceclaw14: Hello people! How goes life for you? Life goes good for me. Anyway, sorry for the long wait. I actually started writing this chapter about a month ago, but my computer freaked out on me and erased ALL of my documents. So I have to start all over again… really sucks, let me tell you. This takes place the morning after the last chapter. Disclaimer: I own nothing blah blah blah.

* * *

Anna shifted, her back pressed uncomfortably against the back of a tree. She slowly opened her eyes, still laden with drowsiness. The light from the sun burned against her eyes, and she raised her hand to shield the harsh light from them. As she lifted her hand, she noticed a strange, white substance wrapped around it. She lowered her hand, and raised her other, pulling at the fibrous bands.

"Please avoid playing with that." A voice said from behind her. Anna felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight, and she turned to see the spiky-haired man from before; standing with his rucksack in hand. His cold eyes resting on her.

Anna squinted her eyes. "I know you…" She mumbled. "What's your name?"

"Kratos," he said flatly.

"Oh yeah, that's it." She shook her head, a smile spreading on her face. "How could I forget you? You saved me, right?"

He sighed**(A/N: You know that creepy sigh Kratos does, when the talking bubble only says "…" and Kratos makes this "Khuh" kinda sound. If you don't know what I'm talking about, look up the scene just before you fight Killia/Door dies.)**.

"What are these?" She asked, fiddling with the white substance on her hand.

"Bandages," he responded. "You were bleeding and I took the opportunity to cover up all your wounds while you were sleeping. **(A/N: Yes that sounded so… oh I don't know whether it was perverted or just plain awkward...)** Did they beat you?"

"Um yeah I guess they did." Anna responded, thinking back. "They would hit me, and run this long thing across my back."

Kratos looked at her for closely for a few seconds, and she blushed beneath his gaze. After those few prized seconds were spent, he changed the subject. "Are you hungry?"

She cocked her head to the side. "Hungry?"

He, dug into his rucksack with his other hand, and pulled out a small bag. "Do you need something to eat?"

Anna stared at him quizzically, and he stepped towards her. He bent downward and placed the bag in her hands. "Eat." He ordered her.

She gazed at the bag in her hands, then looked up at him. Due to his position, his face was mostly covered in shadow, and his eyes glowed in the shade of the trees. You can't say no to those eyes. She shifted the bag into one of her hands, and pulled at the top of it with her other. When it didn't open, she yanked harder, pulling it in each direction. "Kratos, it won't open." She said, frustrated.

Kratos reached down and took the bag from her hand. He pulled on the strings and the bag slid easily open. He reached his gloved hand into it and pulled out a piece of dried Amango. He dropped the fruit into Anna's open hand. "Eat." He repeated, his voice hard and demanding.

Anna looked at the fruit, a disgusted look on her face. But she decided it was better to listen to the man before her than to disobey him. He was quite frightening, even when he wasn't ordering her around. She gripped the fruit hard, raised her hand to her mouth and dropped the fruit the fruit on her swollen tongue. It truly was disgusting, somewhere in between sweet and bitter, with a odd sour aftertaste. It took all her strength to keep it in her mouth and swallow.

"Bleh." Anna said after the deed was done, sticking out her tongue. Kratos tried to hand her another piece of fruit, but she shoved it away. "Don't you have anything better?" She complained.

"I won't let you starve." He said simply, avoiding her question.

Her face went slack, and she slowly ate the other piece of her self-proclaimed 'poison.' Kratos dumped several more pieces onto her hands, and she ate those with the same reluctance.

When she had finished her disgusting meal, she looked beside her to see his water skin. She picked it up, and for some moments she managed to open it—Anna wanted anything but his help—She took numerous large gulps until her stomach began to cause her pain. She screwed the cap back on and looked up at Kratos, who had moved over to another tree across from her, where he tied his cape around his neck and tightened his belts.

"So…" Anna pressed. "What are we going to do now?"

"That I am not sure of. We need to go into town so we can get you a pair of shoes. But Luin is undoubtedly crawling with Desians, searching for the both of us. I could go alone and cause less attention, but that would leave you here, unprotected. The Desians are combing all areas on this continent by now, and you would stand no chance if they came for you."

"Wha—What do you mean?" She yelled angrily, clenching her fists. "I can fight!"

"Using you bare hands?" He said harshly. "Even if you were in possession of a weapon and you were skilled with it, you would stand no chance against them because of your Exsphere." He pointed towards the black jewel embedded on her chest.

She looked down, and focused her eyes on her Exsphere. She raised her bandaged hand up to it, and ran her fingers lightly across its smooth surface, and the black veins it produced. "How does it slow me down?" She asked Kratos, her tone serious.

Kratos sighed. "That is a story for another time." He swung his rucksack onto his back. "I suppose I'll have to find somewhere safe to leave you while I head into Luin."

Anna blinked. "What? You're leaving me to those…those…" She searched her mind for the word she was looking for, but to no avail.

"Desians." He offered.

"Yes! Those guys. You're just going to let them come at me?"

"I'll find somewhere to keep you safe while I go. Somewhere they will refrain from searching. I won't be gone for long, only an hour or so at most."

"But—" She complained, only to be cut off by him.

"Get up, we're leaving." He said, walking off westward.

Anna could do nothing but follow.

**

* * *

**

"Aren't we there yet?" Anna called to Kratos from where she slowly limped on several yards behind him.

"If we were there, wouldn't you think I would have said something?" Kratos fumed, after only two hours, they had barely made a mile. He had hoped to leave for Luin before midday so he could return to Anna during the afternoon, but at this slow pace he worried that he would not embark for the city until dusk. Now, the sun was already beginning its course towards the horizon. They had stopped for rests numerous times and each time they did for over an hour.

Anna was injured, while Kratos was wrapping up her wounds during the late hours, he observed that she had sprained her ankle and she had bruises covering the underside of her feet. It was obviously slowing her down, but this pace was unacceptable.

After several minutes of silently walking, silently meaning that Anna complained under her breath and Kratos did all he could to ignore her, he discovered a path branching off southward. Judging by the plants beginning to grow on it, he confirmed it had not been used it a while.

But paths always lead somewhere. And the fact that it had not been walked upon for quite some time made it even more appealing.

Kratos had been leading Anna away from major roads, walking paths, or even areas with any slight show of another human having been there. Where there were people, there were Desians.

"This way." He commanded Anna, turning onto the path.

"So now you speak?" She hissed.

The path was shaded, by enormous, ancient trees that grew alongside it. Birds chirped gaily above his head and he saw rabbits leap through the piles of dead leaves that had piled on the ground. At one point, he spotted a snake slithering through the leaves, hissing, although not as venomously as Anna had before. The constant glances at animal life comforted him, another sign that there were next to no humans here with them.

Through the trees, Kratos saw an old gray cottage sitting at the end of the path. He stuck his hand out behind him, keeping Anna from progressing forward.

"What is it?" She asked angrily.

"Stay here." He commanded her, walking towards the house, his hand tight on the Flamberge's grip.

"Fine!" Anna fumed behind him. "Leave me here alone!"

As he neared the cabin, he heard no other noises than the scurrying of creatures and Anna's ranting. He pulled the door open, preparing for someone to lash out at him. When nothing arrived, he entered the house.

The floorboards creaked beneath his weight, the only sound in the house. He tightened his grip on the sword, and looked around warily.

"Woah, what is this place?" A voice said from behind him.

Acting upon instinct, Kratos drew his sword while he slammed his free arm back towards the noise. His arm came in contact with the source of the voice, and he pushed it into the wall. A shocked gasp came from it, and Kratos turned with the Flamberge. The sword was set to the base of the intruder's neck, but he swiftly returned it to its scabbard when he saw the face of the intruder. He removed his arm from Anna's chest, and she fell to the floor, gasping for breath.

"What—what was that for?" She panted, looking up at Kratos, her eyes burning.

"It would be in both of our interests if you avoided sneaking up on me." He responded, turning on his heel to examine the room.

It was empty, save for a small circular table and two overturned chairs. A small fireplace was at the opposite side of the room, where it separated into two rooms. From what he could see, they were a kitchen and a bedroom. His attention shifted back towards the table and chairs. Approaching them, eh reached out and pulled an arrow that had been lodged in the center of the table. He examined it closely.

"What about it?" Anna asked. She had arisen from her former place on the floor and was standing at his side a safe distance away.

Kratos ran his fingers over the wood, which was an odd yellowish-brown. "It's a Desian arrow. They inject a special substance into the wood to keep it from breaking, you can tell by the abnormal coloration."

"So should we leave."

"No, they probably showed up here to bring who ever lived here to the ranch and shot this as a warning. Chances are they think no one is here and they will not bother us." He lowered the arrow to his side, casting a quick glance around the room, and then meeting his eyes with Anna's. She quickly turned away, avoiding him. "Which means you can stay here in safety until I return."

Anna's head shot up. "What? You're gonna leave me here where _Desens _invaded?"

"Desians." He corrected, turning to face the door. "You'll be fine, I'll be gone for a bit over two hours. You can take care of yourself until I return, can't you?" He was at the door, lifting one hand to twist the knob and push the door. With his other hand, he crushed the arrow, and dropped it onto the floor; closing the door behind him.

* * *

Anna waited, staring coldly at the door. As each second passed she felt her blood boil. After a near microscopic time, her top came loose.

"What?" She screamed. "You leave me _here_, where those Desans or whatever they are attacked? You're leaving me out here for them to take me back to… to that…place! You're just gonna let them take me?"

When no response came, she bent down and grabbed one of the chairs, imagining herself lifting at and throwing it directly at the door. She saw the wood splinter and fall to the floor with a sickening series of thumps.

Alas, as Anna reached for the chairs, lifting it back up on its legs, she discovered it was much heavier than she had originally predicted. Still, the image of her pelting the chair at the door caused her to throw it anyway.

It went not even a foot, and landed ungracefully onto the floor, one leg with a large crack running down it. **(A/N: Don't you just hate it when that happens? You feel so hopeful, like you're gonna throw it far and it's gonna be perfect…but it just blows up in front of your face. No? Well then Anna, you and I are more alike than I had thought.)**

"Ugh!" She roared, turning towards the wall and pounding on it forcefully with her fists. "Why? Why?" Anna asked the cabin. "Why is he just so….ugh! I just can't take it!"

Sliding to the floor, she ran her hands slowly against the wooden floor; grumbling to herself. The layer of dust that had settled onto the floor made her skin itch. She looks down at her bandaged hand, clenching her fist.

"How could this happen?" She whispered. "He swoops in and saves me, feeds me, bandages me and now he leaves me here like…" she struggled for words. "Like…like he wants them to get me!"

She used her hands to help her onto her feet, deciding that it would be best to accept the fact he had left her here and try to make the best of it. She walked through one of the passageways next to the fireplace. It led to a dirt-covered room. Something scurried past her feet; squeaking. She felt coarse fur run across one side of her foot.

Anna pulled her foot up; she pressed her bandaged hand on a counter next to her, and heard a crack beneath it. She settled her other hand onto the counter, and lifted her bandaged hand to her face. A beetle, its hard covering crushed, twitched in her hand.

"Ew, ew…." She said aloud, closing her eyes and scratching the palm of her hand on the edge of the counter. "Ew." She continued scratching it until the beetle fell to the floor.

Anna regained her balance, and cast a wary gaze over the room. Dust covered everything, staining the white tiles beneath her a foul yellow. Beetles swarmed over the counter next to her, swerving around dishes and small bottles that were lying awkwardly over the counter.

At the far end of the room was an old rocking chair, facing a large white window. Anna braced herself, and cautiously, keeping her eyes flickering from the floor beneath her to the room ahead of her, stepped on her toes to the old rocking chair. When she reached it, she ran her hand slowly on the arms of the chair, feeling its smooth surface. She closed her eyes, absorbing herself in her thoughts.

People had lived here, not that long ago. One had probably sat in this very chair, out the window; thinking. The thought of other people made Anna burst with happiness. She had considered herself to be alone in the world, like everyone around her didn't exist; that they were just figments of her imagination, causing her pain and suffering. That she was making the world punish her for some act of rebellion she could not remember. Like life itself was out to get her. **(A/N: Maybe I'm putting too much of myself in Anna…...)**

Her eyes snapped open, and she turned briskly on her heels, walking out of the room, taking no care to the placement of her steps, and in return she murdered several beetles with her carelessness.

Anna felt the urge to leave. She felt like she has an onlooker in someone else's life. Like she was eavesdropping on a private conversation between two people she didn't know.

She _needed _to exit this cabin, and forget all about it.

Coming to the door, she grabbed its handle and pushed outward. Though to no avail. She tried again, feeling panic slowly rise in her. Something was in her way.

She pressed all her weight against the door and pushed again, but whatever was blocking her from the outside was not about to surrender to her feeble attempts of escape.

'_I'm stuck.'_ She thought, feeling the bile rise in her throat. '_He locked me in here. I'm stuck._'

Anna pushed at the door, slowly feeling herself slip away, feeling the energy drain from her. "Why?" She whispered, on the brink of consciousness. Blackness spread over her vision, and as she collapsed to the floor she said it again.

"Why…"

**

* * *

**When Kratos exited the cabin, he located a long branch that had caught his attention during the walk. Along with other logs and branches, he created a barrier beginning at the bottom of the door, and ending near the knob. It was heavy enough to keep Anna from escaping. He withdrew his wings, and pushed himself two feet from the ground.

As he began to flap his wings and glide off into the distance, he heard Anna scream at him, and an unpleasant crash come from the cabin.

He rose high into the air, just enough so he could for the more prominent part remain undetected by whoever maybe on the ground, but still close enough that, with his spectacular angle vision, he could see nearly all on the ground.

He arrived at Luin after twenty or so minutes to find it strangely empty. He had predicted it would be swarming with Desians, people crowded in the streets and some whippings. Kratos had been right about there being Desians, but they were not in the massive numbers he had thought. Instead, only thirty were in the small village, and they were not terrorizing people but instead searching through abandoned sheds and small houses where an escapee could be residing. Kratos deduced that Kvar was trying to keep his failure a secret. A smirk grew on his face as he imagined how Mithos would react to this information.

Not only was the town smaller in numbers in regard to Desians, but in regard to citizens as well. As he walked through the streets, he came across few citizens, and most were men with graying hair, carrying fish or other good to the market. The youngest pedestrian he saw was a woman in her mid thirties. She was wearing an old leather cloak and had the hood over her head. She was carrying a large basket containing thick quilts with dazzling embroidery. She kept her eyes to the ground, and she walked slowly, heartbrokenly; as though she was walking through water.

The woman turned to a house at her left, and as she did Kratos caught sight of the gown she was wearing beneath the rugged cloak. It was an elegant, satin dress the color of the sky. Compared to the basic dresses and shirts of the other villagers, she was dressed as nicely as the Queen of Tethe'alla.

He soon reached the marketplace to find it as deserted as he had anticipated. Majority of the shops were closed, though fortunately the cobbler's shop was open. It was an old, run down building with peeling paint. The inside was crowded with large shelves containing shoes and a small desk in the corner.

The cobbler himself was a man in his late sixties with strong hands and gray eyes. When Kratos entered his shop, a look of surprise rose in his face.

"Well well," he said in a worn voice. "I thought I wouldn't have any business today." His eyes ran up and down Kratos. "You're not from around here, are you?"

Kratos shook his head. "No. I am a traveler, and a need shoes for my companion."

The man nodded. "That explains it; no one does much today other than mourn." He looked at Kratos, searching his eyes for emotion. Then the man laughed, and shook his head. "You wouldn't know, would you? Now can I ask what kind of shoe you're looking for?"

"A small, lightweight boot, comfortable; she will need to do a good share of running in them."

The man's eyes lit up. "Oh. Shopping for your lady friend, are you?" He turned on his heel towards the back of the shop, waving his hand for Kratos to follow.

The back of the shop was similar to the front, except it harbored a large, oak desk where tools were sprawled in numerous directions. The man rummaged through some shelves.

"So," he began, working to make conversation with the angel. "Would you like me to tell you about why all the shops are closed today and why I had not expected any customers?"

Kratos shrugged.

The man laughed. "Seems I may not have all your attention." His face straightened, and the mood in the shop grew serious. "Anyway, today, about fifteen years ago, a Desian raid was carried out in this village."

Kratos instantly knew where this was going.

"Even today we don't know why they invaded. Usually they have more of a reason to it rather than random violence, right?" He shook his head as he pulled out a shoe, examined it and placed it back in the shelf. "But that's what it seemed like. We were not holding escapee's from the ranch at that time, unless they wanted to nail at those who had lived here in piece for over ten years. They took no one; it was a massacre."

"We lost many people. A small family, heading to Asgard, was found murdered not even a mile from here. The little girl had her head cut from the remainder of her body. The man was killed by some kind of magic, and the woman a sword straight through the temple." He pulled out another shoe, quickly examined it, and handed it over to Kratos. "I think this'll do. Come follow me so we can decide on a price." He walked off to the front of the store, Kratos following."

"A mother and young daughter were trying to escape Luin. The mother was found with a gaping hole in her midriff, as though an impressive force has rose from the ground solely to kill her. The girl was missing. We still cannot find her. Maybe the Desians took her, maybe she ran off, away from her mother's corpse. We do not know."

He swallowed hard. "Now, every 28th of August **(A/N: I settled on this date before I had even published the first chapter… it has no connection with any events that fall on this day.)** the friends and family of the deceased mourn, which really is everyone here; except travelers and those like myself, who arrived here after the tragic incident. They dress in their finest clothes and go house to house, spreading mementoes of the deceased and mourn their deaths."

'_That explains the woman I saw earlier_.' Kratos thought.

The smile that had been in the man's eyes when Kratos first entered had vanished, he quietly arranged an agreeable price for the shoes with Kratos, and whispered a good day to him. It had drained most of Kratos's money.

As Kratos walked down the street, shoes in hand, a figure caught his eyes. It was a middle-aged man, with thin black glasses and dressed in fine silk clothing and an old leather cloak that draped over it. The man was traveling in the opposite direction Kratos was, so as he passed Kratos spotted tears in his eyes. The man turned on his heel towards a small house.

As a middle-aged man knocked on a door, reaching into a bag at his hip, he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and muttered to himself. He pulled out a bouquet of various flowers. Kratos spotted red, white and tea roses, mixed with statice and pink carnations** (A/N: More about this at the bottom, you can scroll down now if you want, but it's nothing you really need to know yet.)** The door opened in front of him, and the man began to recite a long tale, he choked several times, but when he came to the end of his tale, he wiped his eyes beneath his glasses and extended his arm out to the door. A hand reached out and pulled the bouquet from him, then patted his hand lightly. The man turned away and the door closed behind him.

As families mourned in their houses.

As tears were shed.

As a young woman, no older than forty, pulled a piece of folded parchment from her purse, Kratos walked by. The woman began unfolding the parchment, turned a light yellow from time, Kratos managed to take a quick glance at the sketch on it.

It was done in black ink, no other colors. Only black lines flowing across the page, to create a moving and marvelous image. An image than made you reach inside of yourself and find your soul.

A little smiling girl, her eyes closed in happiness. Her hair coming down to her shoulders, a dimple on her left cheek. Her face was void of any sadness or uneasiness. It was full of innocent joyfulness, unscarred from the pains of reality.

As all these acts of sadness, remorse, and pain, Kratos walked past and out of the city.

Counting the Gald left in his hand

* * *

Anna's mind felt groggy, like it was enveloped in a cool, gray fog. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking them constantly as her vision settled. After a few seconds she recognized the cabin around her, and slowly the world ceased spinning. She remained on the ground, and closed her eyes; breathing slowly and deeply. When she had settled completely, she rose sluggishly, leaning against the door for support.

She looked around her, at the room she had already ventured into, and another that was still unknown territory. She quickly decided she should investigate it, not knowing how much longer it would take Kratos to return to her.

"Kratos…" she grumbled. Thinking about him made her fume with anger. She was no child, she could defend herself. And she knew how to blend in with a crowd. It was not like "I was captured by the Desiens" was written on her forehead.

Anna looked down at the Exsphere embedded on her chest. Judging from Kratos's questions he had made about the strange jewel, it was probably just the same as having those cursed words written on her face.

She shrugged off the idea of Kratos and walked off towards the room. It was wider than the last, by quite a lot. The floors were wooden boards instead of tiles with mold causing cracks to form. They squeaked under her weight. At first it surprised her, remembering the sounds of those odd animals she had discovered in the tiled room, but when, after examining the area around her feet and listening for other squeaks, she realized that there were no creatures there she began to stand on her toes, and then back on her heels. A small smile spread on her lips as she took part in this childish game.

Still rocking, she took in her surroundings. The room was barren except for a small chair next to her, and a small nightstand with a shattered lamp on the floor beside it. Adjacent to the nightstand was a rectangular shaped object. It was large, and came up to about two feet. It was a dark blue, though it was covered in dust and dirt. At both the vertical ends were wooden posts, the one farthest from her higher.

When Anna noticed two oddly-shaped bumps in the object, her balance ceased and she came crashing down onto the blue thing. It was more soft than she had predicted, and she slowly rose herself up on her feet again.

Curiosity got the better of her, and she stared at one of the large bumps in the bed. As clumsy as a drunken man, she approached the side of the bed with the shattered glass. Fortuitously, she avoided contact with the glass. Her heart began to thump with excitement as she slowly extended a hand towards the blue substance that covered the mysterious object that had so quickly caught her undivided attention

Anna took a deep breath, but her mind refused to settle. It was packed with images of what she believed was just a few inches from her fingertips. A hoard of some delicious food that had not yet touched her tongue. A pure delicacy, Kratos's odd slices would compare nothing to what would be beneath this blanket.

Even Kratos would be surprised.

A small smile spread on her face as she thought of Kratos staring down at what would be in her hands in a matter of seconds. He would let her do what she wanted; he would let her go to her hometown, Luin.

He would truly protect her.

The excitement heated up inside of her to the point when her actions were uncontrollable. She grabbed the cover in her hand and pulled it back.

She screamed.

**

* * *

**

Kratos was flying peacefully, at a steady rate when he heard Anna's scream. He was at his usual height, and was only a matter of minutes from the cabin. He could see it with his near perfect angel vision. When the sound of Anna's scream reached his ears, he instantly sped up and began careening down to the earth as fast as an arrow. He pulled up a few feet from the earth at a small meadow a short distance from the cabin, and drew in his wings. He tore through the forest; worried that his one true chance to foil Mithos's plans might slip through his fingers.

When he reached the door he quickly began to tear at the make-shift lock he had produced to keep Anna from running off. In a matter of seconds he had rid it of enough logs that he could wrench the door open.

Anna w as not in the atrium. A loud crash came from the bedroom, and Kratos began to sprint towards it. His hand gripped his sword hilt, preparing to strike whatever was attacking Anna. When he entered, she was on the ground, lying on top of a chair. From the steady rise and fall of her chest he confirmed she was still alive. He cautiously examined the room, but was unable to find whatever had frightened Anna.

He released his sword and kneeled next to Anna, placing a hand on her shoulder. Her face was as white as snow, but her cheeks were tearstained.

"Anna." He said, shaking her lightly. When she did not respond he shook her harder and repeated himself in a stronger voice. "Anna."

Her eyelids fluttered. They were bloodshot and watering, a tear fell from her left eye, streaming from her chin. With his free hand Kratos pulled his waterskin from his rucksack. "Drink," he commanded.

Anna hands shook violently as they reached for the waterskin, and when she held it Kratos realized that she was too weak to help herself so he helped her frail hands guide the waterskin to her lips. Her mouth was unclosed, except majority of the water feel from her lips and onto her chest; namely, the Exsphere. Kratos's eyes wondered down to it, watching as the water fell to it and splashed onto her red skin.

A small, gurgling sound came from Anna's mouth, and Kratos lifted the waterskin away from Anna. Some color had returned to her cheeks, and her eyes were open and they wandered the room cautiously until they met his eyes.

"Are you injured?" He asked. "Do you hurt anywhere?"

She shook her head, which sent a sharp pain coursing from the back of her neck. She flinched, and reached her hand to the source of the pain. Kratos grabbed her wrist before she managed to, and Ana looked into his eyes with wide ones.

"Turn." He commanded.

Anna shifted instantly, so her back faced Kratos. He grabbed her brown, knotted tresses and placed them over her shoulder; leaving him a clear view of a scar on the back of her neck. It was not very deep, but quite wide. "Stay perfectly still." He commanded her. She responded with silence, fearing that if she nodded she would in turn cause more pain.

Kratos began to dig in his rucksack, pulling out an apple gel. He broke out a small piece and lifted Anna's hand, which had ceased violently shaking, but was still not impeccably still; he placed the gel on her hand. She lifted her hand to her mouth and the gel slid easily in. Luckily, chewing didn't hurt, so she was able to swallow it. Kratos watched as the scar on her neck slowly began to close. **(A/N: Is that how gels work? Do you eat them or do you rub them on your wound…? Does anyone know, because I don't.)**

Kratos place his hands on her shoulders and turned her around, so she faced him. Tears were rapidly spilling from her eyes, running down her chin and falling down onto her dress. "Tell me what happened." His voice was hard, and he instantly regretted it when the words came out. Anna was like a small little girl—clueless. She didn't know anything.

He softened his voice and lifted his hand to her face. He caressed her cheek, and she looked up into his eyes. "Anna," he spoke, nearly whispering. "Tell me what happened, Anna."

She was breathing hard, her chest heaving. He let her calm herself, waiting impatiently. After several long minutes, she twisted her head at the bed in the center of the room. , Kratos could see a white object, dangling from a few inches below the pillow; emerging from inside the covers.

A skeletal hand.

He squeezed Anna's shoulders, a gesture that said for her to stay still. She was not precisely sure of what it meant, but even so she did not feel the strength to move.

Kratos rose from the floor, stepping over the chair and towards the bed. He grasped the thick blue covers and pulled them off the bed.

His eyes widened. Lying on the bed were two skeletons with thin purplish skin concealing only some of their bruise and cracked bones.. In his four thousand years of experience with the dead, he was able to identify them as one man, and one woman. They both were in their mid forties. **(A/N: I was unable to find some way to show difference in age for skeletons but Kratos probably knows it…if such a one exists. I'm pretty sure maybe spine curvature changes with age, but I don't know; I'm not a doctor. But for the differences in sexes, that I got. There are the obvious ones, like how the female's pelvis is flatter and wider—obviously for child-birth. And some like how women have more rounded shoulder-blades. See how much you guys are learning?)**

The sight caused him, in all his four-thousand years of near-meaningless life, to bite his lip. They had been beaten, harshly. Four of the women's ribs were broken savagely, her collarbone was crushed. The man's arms and legs were broken, obviously to keep him from fighting back.

The sheet beneath them was stained a light tan color. The color of dried blood.

Their hands were locked together, and they were facing each other, their mouths open wide. He could see their faces clearly. They were scared, terrified.

The Desians had set them this way. They had made them into a position that would tear their heartstrings, and then they waited for them to die; knowing they could not move. Knowing that they could only stare into each other's eyes until death split them.

They wanted others to come and see this massacre. They wanted them to fear the Desians even more; to know that even in their last moments, they could still torment them.

It was sick.

Kratos grabbed the covers in his hand and pulled them over their bodies, tucking the hand under the covers to keep it from view. He closed his eyes for a short moment, cursing at the Desians.

He turned on his heel to find Anna sleeping, her head against the wall. We was grateful she was able to sleep; he didn't know how upset he looked, and if he showed a single sign of weakness she would have a panic attack.

Kratos kneeled down next to her, placing one arm at her knees and the other near her ribs; which he could feel through her skin, and lifted her up. She was as light as a feather. He stepped over the chair and out of the cabin.

When he exited it, he leaned Anna against a tree and positioned himself several feet in front of the house. He closed his eyes and focused his mana. Red ruins appeared at his feet, engraved with the words in the angelic language.

_Per meus manuum may meus hostilis exuro. Incendia ball! _**(A/N: More about this at the bottom.)**

"_Fire ball_!" He whispered, thrusting his hands outward toward the house. He opened his eyes at the perfect time: Just as the trio of fire balls reached the old cottage. Because of its age, the house immediately lit into flames. It was wholly immersed in the unforgiving tongues of fire in a few heartbeats.

Kratos closed his eyes and whispered: _Sileo_ _in pacis_.

He opened his eyes and turned back to Anna, who was still sleeping peacefully. He stepped toward her and lifted her up again, cradling her at his chest. He knew the fire would spread quickly, being that these woods were full of dead and rotting trees. He concluded it would be unsafe to fly, fearing that Anna might wake up and manage to squirm from his grasp.

That would not end well.

He had to make his mind up quickly, so he held Anna close-he was able to feel her steady heartbeat pound against him— and began to sprint through the forest.

* * *

I woke up because of an odd crackling sound. All I could see was blurred colors, a bright orangish-yellow some paces in front of me and blackness everywhere else. My mind felt groggy, as though it was seeing through a fog. I yawned and rubbed my eyes, my vision beginning to return.

Immediately I felt a cold wind brush against me and the goosebumps grow on my arms. I tucked my legs up to my chest and shivered.

The weird orange thing in front of me was moving, and it gave off a bright light. I curiously reached my hand closer to it, and a small smile spread on my face when I felt warmth rush into my fingers. I moved up, hoping to cloak myself in the orange light.

Just as I was close enough to touch the consistently moving tongues, something pulled me back. I landed on my back with a painful thud.

"What was that?" I thought aloud, I blinked, and saw Kratos's eyes glared down at me.

They looked twice as terrifying in the flickering light. Instead of their constant shadow, they were exceptionally creeping. One moment, as light as the odd yellow thing in the sky, and the next as dark as the night I found myself in.

"Don't touch it," he said, his voice flat. I shivered, unsure of whether it was from the cold or his voice.

Probably his voice.

"You'll burn yourself." He continued. "So don't touch the fire, and don't get too close."

I lifted myself onto my elbows, and back to my sitting position. Even with the warmth of the 'fire', I was still freezing. I was unable to keep my teeth from chattering.

Something light fell at my shoulders, and I reached my hand up to feel Kratos's cape draped over me. I looked up to see his eyes on me. I didn't shiver.

"Thanks," I whispered.

He turned gracefully on his heel and out of the light the fire created. He returned a diminutive time later, the waterskin in one hand, and the bag of disgusting in the other.

He handed me the bag and, remembering this morning, I managed to undo the strings, revealing those dry, wrinkly orange things. I picked one up with my fingers and began to nibble on it slowly. I could barely taste it, I was just so hungry.

For an extensive time, there was silence engulfed us. The only sound was the occasional cracking and popping of the fire; which caused me to jump until I became slowly became used to it. I had eaten several pieces of the fruit and had drunk nearly half of the waterskin.

I placed on hand on my hand, and closed my eyes. I was forgetting something, I knew it. I thought back to this morning, slowly piecing together my memories.

'_Oh yeah_,' I thought. '_I was bouncing up and down when I fell and decided to pull back that blue thing…'_

My eyes snapped open, and cool tears began to flow rapidly from them. My chin quivered and I felt my face redden. I choked, feeling my mouth moisten.

I buried my head in my knees and cried. I couldn't shake it from my mind. That color….the skeleton….its mouth still open. I didn't know about life and death then, but I was intelligent enough to put two and two together and conclude that that had once been a human being. That it had once walked on this earth and smiled and laughed, and that now it laid there; stuck in eternal sadness.

I choked harder, straining my throat. I made a loud, whoop-like sound, and hiccupped. I wanted to stop, but I was unable to. My soggy dress began to stick to my knees. I thought I could never stop crying.

Something wrapped around my shoulders, pressing me back onto another warm thing. I looked up, seeing Kratos's face lit by the fire. His hair hid his eyes; and his face was blank.

I couldn't have cared less.

I buried my head in his chest and kept the tears flowing. It was better with Kratos. I could feel his warmth; part of me believed he was made of stone, not human at all. Though I could feel his heart beat against mine, I focused on its steady rhythm while I bawled.

It was good to know I wasn't the only human still alive.

* * *

I don't understand what overcame me as I watched Anna shake and cry. It must have been very powerful, powerful enough to cause me to take her in my arms. I knew she looked up at me, but I kept my eyes trained on the forest in front of us; I did not want to look at her.

Her tears slowed when I pulled her into to my chest. She reached up with one hand and clenched my shirt tightly like a small child.

Maybe that was why.

Anna was an oblivious person. It was not her fault; she had been locked up for eighteen years and had lost all her memories . Who was to say that she would wake up in the morning and forget where she was, who I was.

Her own name.

I realized that the occasional sounds of her tears had stopped, and I looked downward to see her asleep, her hand still holding tightly onto my shirt. I pulled her in closer; and I do not know why I did.

I wanted to help the poor, innocent child in my arms.

**

* * *

**

Iceclaw14: *nibbles on dried apple* Aw…how cute. Alright so a lot of things happened in this extremely long chapter. Over 7000 words—longer than the first chappie. So let's start explaining. #1: The Flowers. Alright, I love flowers. Love love love flowers. And I like learning about what things symbolize in different cultures and religions, so I know quite a lot about what flowers mean. So I decided, what the hell, I'll put in my story. The ancient Romans believed red roses symbolized death and rebirth, which obviously ties into how it's a day of mourning for the people of Luin. White means innocence and purity, which symbolizes how those who were killed were innocent in their ways, and tea means I'll never forget you, which is obvious. Pink carnations are I'll always remember you, so I could have left them out but I think carnations are pretty and statice is remembrance, which I put in just to spice up the color. I love roses….. Anyway, you'll see a lot of this in later of chapters, just to tell ya. There are some flowers that symbolize some purdy awesome things. #2: What Kratos said. I decided to take my Latin skills into my story. I am in my second year of Latin and it feels awesome to be able to use my good ol' dead language. Latin sounds weird enough to sound ancient and not sound French or Spanish or German or anything like that, and yet it is close enough to English for some words to be recognizable. What Kratos first said was " Through my hands may be enemies burn. Fire ball!" And then he said "Rest in peace." Purdy epic, huh? This is becoming really long *sweatdrop*. But I'm not done yet! That part in the middle was really hard to write, you don't know how hard it is to describe a bed until you actually try it! And dead bodies! Sometimes, I love Anna's oblivious-ness, and other times it drives me insane! I think I killed the words "odd" and "object" there; but I really liked the ending part. Now, I shall say good-bye. Walve! Seriously, bye, and review on your way out please.


	5. Forgetfulness

Iceclaw14: Hello people! Is life going good for you? I hope it is…so, anyway, I deleted one of my stories, which created a gap in my system. In case you were wondering, it was _Heart of Darkness_, my Spyro story, I deleted. It was getting too clichéd and the main character was a Mary-Sue. The only reason I had it up for as long as I did is because there's this one character, Likre, whom I absolutely adore and wanted to write about. But I just had to stop the clichéd madness where I was. I'm proud of myself. ^.^ Now all that's left is basically editing every single part of my NaNo novel. OH YEAH! This is going to be my first chapter where I slide away from either Kratos's or Anna's point of view! Though it is only for a little bit, and he won't get the 1st person thing at the end. But still he's different…Disclaimer: I own nothing….blah.

* * *

Yuan smiled as he took great, cheery strides down the tenebrous ancient halls of Welgia. It was difficult to keep himself from skipping to Mithos's chambers, to which he was called only a few minutes ago. A black-winged angel had been sent to him. The angel spoke in the cold, monotone voice the half-elf so despised.

"Lord Mithos," the angel began, "wishes to see you in his chambers."

Immediately after the words spilled from the angel's mouth, he dropped dead on the floor. A large, circular-shaped wound was carved deep into his back, releasing spurts of sticky, scarlet blood. Yuan laughed maniacally as he stared down at the body. He knew perfectly well whom had killed the angel and why.

"THAT BASTARD!" A familiar voice barked from down the hall. It was shortly followed by an explosion and the sound of stone clattering on the floor and the thud of a body. "HOW DARE HE! HOW DARE HE DO THIS AFTER ALL I'VE DONE!"

Yuan took a deep breath and hid his smirk behind a non-feeling mask. He sighed, feeling so like Kratos.

"The fool," he whispered before pushing open the enormous purple doors before him.

Immediately he raised his arm to shield his eyes. Stone collided with his arm, pushing his arm back. When the stone ceased hailing, Yuan lowered his arm and stared down at the sleeve—now flecked with dust and blood.

"THAT UNGRATEFUL BASTARD!" Yuan looked up and spotted Mithos levitating above a mass of what was left of over fifty angels. His normally impeccable white jumpsuit was speckled with blood. It stained his hair and dotted his face, causing the great angel to appear beyond intimidating and just damn frightening. "I'M GOING TO KILL HIM, CUT OUT HIS HEART AND FEED IT TO NOISHE!"

He smiled inwardly; Mithos was so furious he had given up on inventing even mediocre threats.

Yuan dropped to one knee and faced the ground. "My Lord," he said as sincerely as possible.

He could picture Mithos's bluish-green eyes turning from the body they had just been focusing on to land on him. The eyes would soften, just enough to relinquish the murderous attitude, allowing it to quell into an age-old loathing.

"Yuan," he said. His voice was far softer than usual. "Get up; I want to look at your eyes when I say this."

The blue-haired half-elf allowed a smile to escape his lips just before he rose. When his eyes met Mithos's, his face was solemn.

"Kratos has left us," Mithos announced.

Yuan nodded. The words slipped from his mouth as easily as wind traveling through the leafy branches of a tree. "I know, I discovered yesterday, but I thought you had sent him somewhere. It was only until an angel asked me if I'd seen him did I discover he was missing." He instantly regretted the words, just as he regretted this quarrel between him and Mithos. He would do anything to make himself feel superior to the fourteen-year-old boy.

"That is not all," Mithos replied grimly.

Yuan gave up his mask of unfeeling and his eyes widened. "What else?" His voice was shaking.

Mithos kicked one of the nearby bodies farther away from him. "He took A012."

"A012?" Yuan asked disbelievingly.

"Yes!" Mtihos's voice boomed through the hallowed room. "He took the Angelus Project! He took her!"

"_The fool_," Yuan whispered. Mithos could, obviously, hear what he said. The golden-haired angel nodded in agreement.

'_He's an idiot,_' Yuan thought. '_Why didn't I think of that?'_

_

* * *

_

Kratos watched Anna as she stirred in her sleep. She shifted and curled herself into a fetal position, pulling Kratos's cape higher over her body. It was mid-September, and winter was coming early. Even as they teetered southward the temperatures were dropping. Kratos only hoped to avoid the snow.

Anna sucked up all of their food, and now Kratos had to hunt—which was getting harder because of dropping temperatures. In the past four-thousand years he forgot what his journey with Mithos, Yuan and Martel was like. He forgot the hunger, the wounds and the toll of weather. It was like that journey all over again, except lacking Martel's guidance and Yuan's companionship, and stuck with three Mithos-s instead of one.

They scarcely made any progress. Anna was used to starvation and pain, but not to cold and excessive movement. Anna complained every half a mile, sat on a rock and would not move until she felt rested enough to continue for another half a mile—which was usually an hour's rest. She would not let him carry her, instead slapping him across the face when he tried, grumbling about something.

She was stubborn, naïve and unforgiving. But she laughed and smiled like the world bore no weight on her. It was obvious she did not know everything, and she knew it herself, but still she looked at the world with open eyes and a desire to understand, and to see it all. She bombarded him with questions on the smallest, most insignificant things. But still she smiled.

Anna moaned in her sleep, mumbling something intangible. She rustled the dead leaves beneath her.

Kratos turned to face the pile of burnt logs before him. He had allowed the fire to go out an hour ago, but only now did he realize it. Anna was plaguing his thoughts, he worried too much about her.

She was his only chance to thwart Mithos's plans.

He craned his neck around the tree he was leaning against and lifted a pile of think sticks from the ground, which he had collected the previous night. He threw them onto the pile of ash in no order, then clasped his hands together, focused his mana and cast Fireball.

Upon impact with the balls of fire, the sticks burst into flame with a satisfactory crack. He turned to face the sky. The sun was rising, painting the sky soft purples and grays. It felt like it had been so long since he had looked at the sun, at the stars that dotted the sky during the night. He tried to name them all in his head while Anna slept, but always he forgot some of them.

A gasp caused him to turn around to Anna. She shot up from the ground, the leaves rustling from her sudden movement. She looked down at Kratos's cape on her legs, gasped again and brushed in cautiously off of her. Her eyes were wide and scared and her face was pale. Her eyes searched the area hungrily and when they met Kratos she let out a blood-curling scream.

"Anna!" He barked, leaping to his feet. His hand mechanically grasped the hilt of his sword. "What is wrong, Anna?"

"Get away from me!" She screamed, using her hands to propel herself backwards. "STAY AWAY!"

Kratos shifted to his knees, and slowly—oh so slowly—rose to his feet. Anna shuffled back only a few inches, her eyes locked on him. He slowly reached a hand outward, towards her, like Martel whenever she encountered a wounded animal or child on their journey.

"Anna," he cooed, "tell me what is wrong."

She didn't move. Their eyes were locked together, and a tear slid down one of her eyes. Her mouth twisted into a contorted, painful shape and she moaned. "What is 'anna'? Don't hurt me…."

Kratos's eyes widened. He lowered his gaze to her chest and started intensely at her Exsphere. It was not a swirling torrent of gray on black, as usual, but a solid pitch color.

"Dammit," he whispered.

* * *

'_Who is this guy? He's staring at me like he's going to eat me!' _Anna thought; her mind racing. She had no idea what he was talking about, no clue what 'anna' meant, nor why he was staring grimly at her chest. She looked down to see something engraved in her, a shiny black gem. The skin around it itched, and suddenly a sharp pain emerged from it, coursing through her body. She gritted her teeth and hissed, controlling her screams.

'_I have to get this off of me!_' She thought, lifting her hands to the jewel. Her arms felt as heavy as stone and her fingers were numb and difficult to maneuver. Eventually, she obtained a firm grip on the gem. She about to wrench it off of her red, swollen skin when something powerful took a tight hold on her wrist.

It was him, the one looking at her so coldly.

"Please…," she gasped, the tears beginning to steam back down her face again. "Don't hurt me, I haven't done anything wrong! Please…."

"What is your name?" His voice was riddled with malice.

"Please…."

"Tell me what your name is!" His grip tightened; his knuckles turned white.

"A—" she gasped. "A012! My name is A012! Please…please don't hurt me, don't send me to Kvar…please...I haven't done anything wrong! Please…."

He released his grip, and Anna immediately pulled her arm to her chest, nursing it with her hands. Using her other hand, she wiped the tears from her face. This man wouldn't bring her to Kvar, no, no, if he was he would have released her: instead he would have dragged her to the cruel ranch leader. She did not know enough about the ranch to understand anything about Kvar, only that they were keeping her here because of the jewel on her chest.

Her eyes widened. In her state of panic, she did not notice that she was no longer enclosed in the metallic walls of her cell. The light that was causing her to squint was not white, but a warm light yellow. The ground beneath her was not silver and flat, but full of countless, unnamable colors and some of it cracked beneath her weight.

She looked up to see the man still staring down at her. His presence still scared her, but not as much, as she was now filled with curiosity rather than anything else.

"Where am I?" She said to him. "How did I get here?"

He shrugged. "Ten or so miles south of Luin, almost to Hakonesia Peak," he informed her flatly. Then his eyes widened, just so that they were not dark slits in his pale face. "Would you mind if I called you Anna?"

She blinked. "Why?"

"Because it is your name."

She shook her head, awkwardness crawling up her. "My name is A012."

He remained unfazed. "You're name is Anna Irving, you're from Luin. You were stuck in the Asgard Ranch for most of your life, and I set your free. I am Kratos Aurion, and I was ordered to save you. But the source of the orders shall remain anonymous." He narrowed his eyes. "Do we have an agreement?"

Anna blinked and nodded numbly. The intensity of his gaze did not lessen on her, but nor did it harden. Which was a good sign, she believed. His reddish eyes were focused on hers, and she turned away to avoid their burning gaze. She took a quick look at her surroundings before she, still avoiding his gaze, questioned Kratos on where they were and why she was here.

* * *

"Here," Kratos said, pressing his finger on the green of the map, somewhere in the middle of the words "Luin" and "Hakonesia Peak," "is where we are. We're heading southward," he traced his finger down to the mountain labeled "Hakonesia Peak," "is where I hope to me today. Though I would like to be in Palmacosta," he fingered the coastal city, "before the weather becomes too cold."

Anna nodded, biting her lip and staring intently at the map. She was different…this new Anna. Not by much, anyone that knew her could quickly recognize her through the changes, but still she was different. Her eyes were more open to her surroundings and she was far more eager to learn. She listened interestedly to whatever Kratos said and only spoke when he finished speaking, often with an intelligent question as to the distance to where they were going or to inquire about a place on the map.

Kratos fed the young woman all that remained of their past meals, vowing that he would hunt the following night. She had just released her lips from the water-skin when she looked at the angel quizzically.

"Kratos," she began, "are you going to eat or drink anything?"

He shook his head. "No." He rose from where he had previously been kneeling and extended a hand downwards to Anna. His other hand rested on the hilt of his sword. "We had best be going now."

She nodded numbly and placed her hand in his. She recoiled slightly after Kratos effortlessly lifted her to her feet. She released his hand and watched him as he proceeded to stomp out the fire, causing plumes of smoke to rise into the sky like fallen black clouds, eager to return to the soft blue sky they called their home.

She was still watching the rising smoke when Kratos grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward. She gasped and yanked her hand from his, but he did not respond and only continued deeper into the forest.

_Definitely different, _the angel thought.

Kratos focused on the sounds of the forest, but heard nothing other than the branches of the trees shake in the cold gusts of wind. The farther southward they traveled the sooner they would escape this freezing weather, but he knew that the coming winter would be a harsh and cold one for all corners of Sylvarant. He could only imagine the warm temperatures Tethe'alla must be experiencing.

It was a shock to Kratos that Anna did not speak a word for the first two hours. She only hummed an odd tune to herself that sounded like a drunken man's try at singing a folk song. Still, it entertained her and she kept at a perfect pace behind Kratos.

Now, they had gone three hours, and they were beginning to experience a slight incline as they neared the mountain. Kratos stopped and turned around, asking Anna if she would like to rest.

Her feet shuffled in the dead leaves. "No, I think I'm fine."

"The journey shall regularly progress in difficulty as we near the mountain, and if you want to rest we should do so now."

She shook her head. "No, you said you wanted to get to Hakonesia Peak today, so that's where we're going." She cocked her head slightly to the left. "How much longer till we get there?"

"If we continue at this pace, we should reach the top of the mountain in two-and-a-half hours."

"Wow, we're really close!" Anna chimed cheerfully. "I shall just have sip from the water-skin and then we can continue on our way."

He handed her the water-skin and she uncorked it with ease, taking a small gulp from its contents. She then closed it again and passed it back to Kratos, who swung it over his shoulder and continued walking.

The mountain rose high into the sky, its very peak appearing to prod at the afternoon sun. Kratos stopped then motioned for Anna to come next to him. She did so near-silently, sensing the care the angel was putting into this situation. He then tore off the path through the dense woods, the woman spoke no word about the thorns that pricked her.

Kratos spotted the backs of the guards at the gate and squatted down. Anna followed his lead. The two would surely be invisible to anyone walking along the path before them for they were shrouded by a lush green bush.

They could not climb up the mountain; it would be too hard a journey for Anna. Even though her endurance had peaked sharply since the previous day, she had begun to struggle and they came to the base of the mountain, but had kept her mouth shut, determined to make it to Hakonesia Peak.

Other than climbing the mountain, the only other way through would be via the gate.

Kratos turned his head to face Anna, whom was attentively staring down the guards, as though if she stared fixedly enough they would cease to exist.

"Anna," the angel whispered.

The woman's eyes turned to him, and she nodded.

"It is impossible for us to climb the mountain, which leaves our only option to wait for the guards to become distracted then sneak past them."

Anna nodded. "So we shall not fight them?" She clenched her fists.

"No," Kratos barked, "it would be better if we remain invisible; if we are seen, it could ruin our entire plan, and these Desians are nothing more than a nuisance, chasing us or not."

* * *

Anna could not wait for Kratos's signal to advance. Old Anna could not wait, and neither could this new one; she had obviously not changed enough.

The woman could not stand staring at the fat guards like they were even remotely interesting. They barely twitched, and when their muscles did move it was to either converse with the other guard or to scratch their backs. It was insanity, staring at those incapable men.

Kratos sensed her anxiety and rested a hand on her shoulder, sending a chill down her spine. "Don't," he whispered sharply. "Waiting is the better option."

Anna pulled her arm from Kratos's grasp, and he gave up his hold easily. She grumbled and turned her head to face the mountain less than a hundred feet away. Her eyes tenaciously scanned the mountain, moving upward at a steady pace until she saw the summit reaching for the clouds. She was well aware that she could not climb such a towering beast, and she could not deceive mysterious, seemingly all-knowing Kratos; so, she waited.

Until she could take it no longer, that is.

The sun was setting, kissing its final goodbyes to the earth with rays of magnificent colors. But Anna, even after having never seen the sun for eighteen years of her life, could not care less about the sun's daily course through the sky. She cared about getting over this stupid mountain as quickly as possible, and she wanted to be safe at the other side right when Kratos wanted to be. She wanted to follow his schedule perfectly. She could easily sense that he did not trust her very much, and that at he was fearful that, at any moment, she would break out in hysterical screams.

He was right.

"I can't do this, Kratos!" She yelled, leaping from the brush they had been kneeling in for the past uncountable hours—jumping so quickly one would have thought she had been shocked by the ground. The guards instantly turned on their fat heels and trained their crossbows at her. The nearest—the roundest, as well—was the only one to shoot, as the other was disarmed by the obvious fact that the screamer was a young woman.

Luckily, the guard had poor eyesight. Anna felt all her hair stand up straight as the arrow whizzed by her ear, then her body convulsed with a spasm when she heard the crack as the arrow penetrated the bark of a tree behind her.

"Dammit," Kratos whispered as he leaped onto Anna, pressing her down onto the ground just as the late-coming arrow from the second guard flew overhead. She yelped as her back bounced against the ground, and smacked Kratos's head where it lay on her breasts.

"What—" she began, but Kratos gave her a quick slap across the cheek.

"Be quiet," he sneered. She instantly obliged, sealing her lips shut.

Her heart began to race as she heard the yapping of the two guards come nearer and nearer to her and Kratos. The mercenary's head bobbed up and down with every labored breath she took, and from the corner of her eye she saw the bare fingers of his right hand close the hilt of his sword. She wanted to scream, but was unsure as to whether she should be screaming for Kratos' help, or for help against him. Either way, she was far too afraid of him to allow a single sound to pass from her lips.

The guards were only a few yards away now, and Anna could hear the high-pitched whine of steel as it moves quickly. She saw the flash of Kratos's silvery sword, turned orange in the light of the setting sun, swing over her head. She clenched her eyes tightly shut and prayed, to no one in particular, that he would not plunge the blade into her throat.

A scream made her shiver from shock, but also from relief that it was not she Kratos turned on. She opened her eyes to see the grisly face of the first guard, contorted in pain, over her. A splash of blood fell on her head, but she had barely enough time to gasp when Kratos removed himself from her, took her hand and pulled her onto her knees.

Anna's head was buried in his chest, and she felt nothing but the swift beating of her heart and his, and the sound of his breath. She did not hear the grunt of the first guard as he stepped forward, towards the two, trading his crossbow for a sword at his side. With a graceful flick of his wrist, the guard fell, a large, deep wound in his abdomen and a thin slash below his knees.

Anna listened to her heartbeat and to Kratos's, as though it was her only lifeline, the only thing that proved she was in fact alive. She kept her eyes closed and absorbed herself in him; while he knelt there, as still as a predator watching its prey take its last breath of fresh air. But, instead of killing his prey, he let her gather her strength before he pulled her from him.

She watched as the purple-clad man rose to his feet and out into the scrub. Her mind was buzzing with thoughts running to and fro in her brain, like a fly trapped underneath a cup, banging against the walls. She had not managed to progress in the slightest in her thoughts when Kratos returned. He extended a hand down to her and she took it slowly, curling her fingers around his. He pulled her up calmly and carefully, as though any sudden movement would cause her to shatter.

"The second guard ran off," Kratos explained, his eyes avoiding hers. "We should take this opportunity to pass through the peak and avoid the replacement guards that shall surely arrive here in some short hours."

Anna nodded and tightened her grip on his hand. Kratos said nothing in response and did not move a muscle, but turned and began walking to the path they had strayed from; Anna walking behind in a daze.

* * *

The stars danced overhead. Tonight, they reminded me of children, bright and laughing. They reflected in Anna's deep eyes almost as powerfully as the discomfort that she was vying to keep hidden. I did not inquire as to how she felt, knowing that she was far too stubborn to tell me anything.

The full moon stares at us from overhead, our light now that the fire had fallen apart. We had stopped barely over an hour after we crossed the peak, when the last of the sun set over the valleys. We had no trees to hide us now, but we were not the only travelers sleeping under the stars and moon alone; another fire flickered in the distance. With my angel sight, I was able to spot several other fires beyond the first.

I could hear Anna's steady breathing, but I knew that she was not sleeping. Never before had the weak woman lasted so long in the night.

It was foolish of her to do what she did at the peak, and it was even more immature of me to avoid speaking to her. Still, my anger would not quell like the fire had, but instead burned and licked at my insides, like a demon tearing me apart. That second guard had spotted her and the Exsphere between her collar bones. Maybe he had not run away for fear or whatever reason I suspected, but instead to inform Kvar or another Deisan that Anna had been spotted. She very well could have ruined all of this for us, and she would be back in a cell before she could scream. I would be back to the mindless angels of Welgaia, a furious Yuan and a deadly Mithos. We would both go back to our personal hells.

* * *

Kratos was angry at me, I knew it. I knew that he was tempted to have me be the next victim of his steel blade; then he would be back to whatever he had done before me, which I am positive was more simple than what he is doing now. I'm not making it much easier on him, whining and blowing our cover. I can't even fight! All I do is eat his food and drink his water, lay the burden of caring for me on his shoulders. I didn't trust him after what happened, even though he had undoubtedly saved my life from the arrow. For all I know he could tie me up to a tree in my sleep and leave me there to die.

He was staring at the stars, which were very beautiful and bright, but still I found myself staring instead at him. My eyes moved up his body, examining every curve and angle to his perfection. I pulled his cape up tighter around my body and smelled it…Yes, it smelled just like him.

The cape didn't suffice for very long. I bit my lower lip and continued staring at him in the brilliant light of the moon and stars. I did not want to hold just a part of his clothing, but all of him.

* * *

Iceclaw14: *smiles* How cute…and creepy. Anywayz, I am so, so so sorry for the slow update. My exams are coming up and I've been studying like hell to pass them, because I feel like I'm going to fail them all. I'M SUCH A PESSIMIST. This chapter isn't one of my bests, I liked the beginning and the end, but I think the middle is shit. Am I the only one? I just felt so stupid writing it…I'll definitely go back and finish it. I just want this chapter up so I can stop worrying about it and study, and so I can start a short story I've been wanting to do…I'm really, really sorry everyone. Really sorry. This story is actually progressing a whole lot faster than most of my others ones. You might not think it now but just wait for the next chapter. *snickers* I don't want to reveal to much so I'll just shut up now and let you all go on with your lives while I study for crap that is most likely not going to help me in my life….reveiw? And Yuan was a lot of fun to write about, he's like Kratos but easier. I'll definitely use his PoV again...


	6. Adoption

Iceclaw:14 What? What is this? That story which I put on alert what seems like forever ago has updated? Was the author in a coma for all those years and finally woke up? Will I get to see the end of this story?

The answer to most of this questions is "no." I have not been in a coma, just been growing-up, getting busier, realizing who I am and shit like that.

So why did I put this chapter in this story?

Because I am putting all of my stories up for adoption.

I've been thinking about this for a while and I feel like this is all I can do at this point. Often enough, I think about these barely-started stories on this site and think, "I wish I had finished those." But, honestly, I'm too busy, I don't have the drive anymore. I love them, I do, and I want them to be finished and for everyone who started them to see them to the end, but I just can't at this point.

So, adoption is the happy medium, isn't it?

I have never done adoption before, and I have no idea how it works. I am also rather lazy, so I'm just gonna make up my own rules about how I want the adoption to work and how you can be the one to adopt it.

**You don't need to have a single story up on FF for me to give my story to you**. If you ask me, the purpose of fanfiction is to teach people how to write without having to worry about character development. Thus, by giving someone an already-started fanfic, it would be like a third training wheel on a bike, just for your help. I want to help people get started writing, so you can message me saying you've never written anything other than essays for school and I might still consider you.

**This is not first-come first-served. **I'm choosing the person who adopts the story, not just whoever wants it. Feel free to keep asking for it until I have taken this chapter down and replaced it with information about where you can continue reading the story. I want to give this story to someone who I think will work hard at it and maybe help them grow as a writer.

**Open-adoption? **Again, I have no idea how this adoption thing typically pans out, but I would love to discuss with my potential adoptees how I want the story to end. We could just toss ideas around. I am completely open to you ending the story a little differently than how I planned it, I would just prefer to discuss your ideas with you beforehand so that I don't find a few months later that you decided the best way to end the story was with an apocalypse which killed all the protagonists before the major conflict could be solved. We could even discuss altering some of the bits I have already written or changing the title (Alright, the amnesia thing in Intertwinedwas pretty stupid, as is the title of that story—yes I am copy and pasting this into all o fmy stories, sue me—I'm lazy.)

**Transferring the story.** This might be a little strange, but I would like to keep the part of the story I myself wrote on my own account. There's just a lot of memories associated with this account, and I'd like to keep all my stories there. This will be something I'll have to work out with whoever adopts the story—maybe just link to the first couple chapters here or something, I don't know.

Now that that's done, all we have left to discuss is what will happen with me.

I don't really write fanfiction anymore and, when I do, it's just a one-shot to help me get over Writer's Block. Right now, I've got one FMA, one Legendia, and one Gurren Lagann one sitting around in my head, waiting for when Writer's Block strikes again—and maybe a Tales of Graces one. Just so you know. I'm actually thinking about maybe doing a larger project, but it would be more for fun and less serious than the pieces I am giving out for adoption now. The idea of writing it just fills me with so much nostalgia I can't resist! So you might see that in the near future (it will be ToS, just so you know).

Thank you so much for reading this, for supporting me as you did and still are, and good luck with the adoption. Just PM me if you are !


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